The Anchor

From the Deputy Principal

Recycling, repurposing, regifting

The metaphor of the archaeological dig has, from time to time, been used to represent the state of some students' school bags or lockers at the end of the school year!  Over the next week or so, students will be clearing out their lockers, desk trays and storage areas in classrooms and, as you can imagine, we manage to produce quite an amount of what some students might see as waste.  But, no everything that comes out of lockers and bags is actually waste.  Here at GSG, we are committed to sustainable practices so we will be asking students to recycle, repurpose and regift where they can.  We are partnering with GiveWrite, a charity which takes donations of new and used stationery and repackages the stationery to give to kids in need in WA.  A big thank you to Mrs Penni Berryman who is coordinating this program. 

 

Did you know there are approximately 593,000 children and young people in Western Australia?  Of these, around 44,000 are living below the poverty line.  At some local schools, as many as 1 in 5 students start the new school year with nothing in their school bags.  As well as caring for others, regifting allows us to care for the environment and reduce local landfill.  In Australia alone, over 140 million pens are sold annually, with the majority discarded after a single use and ending up as long-term problematic waste. This results in around 700 tonnes or 1100 cu metres of plastic waste being dumped in local government landfill sites across Australia.  

 

We are very happy to accept donations of equipment that parents or students have at home.  I know over the years  we have built up a large stash of perfectly good stationery at home as well as at school.  If students can bring in these items next week, and drop them off at Student Services we will be very happy to receive them.  Please encourage your children to think of others and the environment as we clean up after a busy year!

Mobile phones

As we approach the end of the year I have been speaking to students about their capacity to make good choices about their behaviour whilst they are at school, right through until the end of the school year.  Whilst the temptation might be to let standards slide, it's more important than ever to maintain our high standards.  On Monday at assembly I reminded students of our mobile phone policy. In 2019, The Department of Education of Western Australia mandated that student use of mobile phones in schools is not permitted.  This is designed to keep students safe at school, maintain privacy, and to reduce distraction. 

 

A reminder that our policy includes the following points.  Mobile phones:     

  • may not be used by students on school grounds between 8.30am and 3.10pm 
  • must be kept in lockers, in silent mode, or handed to Student Services from 8.30am to 3.10pm 
  • must not be taken into classrooms, assemblies, chapel or any other meetings. 
  • if taken into a test or examination this will result in a marks penalty in line with the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) guidelines. 
  • must not be used as cameras at any time of the day including to and from school, except in special circumstances with the permission of a staff member. 
  • Smart watches must be in ‘aeroplane mode’ so phone calls and messages cannot be sent or received during the school day. 
  • The school cannot take responsibility for the loss or damage of a mobile phone. Parents should ensure that their child’s phone is insured as personal property.

Our mobile phone policy can be found here.  

 

Mrs Emma Franklin | Deputy Principal