Wantirna College Newsletter

Principal Team Editorial 

 

Respectful Relationships 

  

Respectful relationships in schools and parliament have been highlighted in media reports in recent weeks. These reports have discussed very concerning allegations of inappropriate unwanted sexual behaviour, particularly from males towards females. Whilst some of the reports have focussed on individuals there have also been accounts alleging the cover up of this sort of behaviour that has occurred at prominent schools. It would be reasonable for anyone to be horrified at the thought of the behaviour occurring in the first place let alone a deliberate act by a school to cover up or not address an incident, be it isolated or endemic. I would like to reassure our college community that we work proactively to educate our students to ensure that we do everything possible to prevent unwanted sexual behaviour occurring from one person to another, but more importantly we would never try and cover up, or not address through the appropriate process, behaviour like this if it was reported to us. I have made that abundantly clear to all our staff on multiple occasions and continually reinforce that we must always respond in line with the Department of Education’s (DET) PROTECT policy which outlines how schools must respond to allegations of sexual assault. 

  

Our most significant strategy to proactively address disrespect, particularly towards women is the implementation of the respectful relationships program, which began last year. “The Royal Commission into Family Violence identified the critical role that schools and early childhood education have in creating a culture of respect to change the story of family violence for future generations. In 2016, respectful relationships education became a core component of the Victorian Curriculum from foundation to year 12, and is being taught in all government and Catholic schools and many independent schools. Everyone in our community deserves to be respected, valued and treated equally. We know that changes in attitudes and behaviours can be achieved when positive attitudes, behaviours and equality are embedded in our education settings. Respectful Relationships is about embedding a culture of respect and equality across our entire community, from our classrooms to staffrooms, sporting fields, fetes and social events. This approach leads to positive impacts on student’s academic outcomes, their mental health, classroom behaviour, and relationships between teachers and students.” https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/pages/respectfulrelationships.aspx

 

The key components of the respectful relationships program include:

 

  • An audit of systematic practices in the school from the leadership level down to ensure we are not perpetuating the gender stereotypes that contribute to inequity between men and women.
  • Whole school professional learning about the impact of gendered violence on our community.
  • Professional Learning for key teachers on the curriculum materials in the respectful relationships program.
  • Focus on respectful relationships materials and curriculum in health classes.
  • Assemblies and classes that are age appropriate in relation to respectful relationships (addressing explicitly issues of consent).

The Respectful Relationships program should not be confused with the safe schools program which is a completely separate initiative and is not part of the curriculum. 

 

The respectful relationships program is mandated in all government schools in Victoria and part of the program focuses on consent. Education doesn’t begin and end with the respectful relationships program and as a staff we are committed to using as many opportunities as we can to educate and reinforce appropriate behaviour and when necessary, respond to inappropriate behaviour. Schools and parents can work together educating young people about this significant issue, particularly with boys. We are committed to playing our part in doing everything we can to stop our students becoming perpetrators of inappropriate and unwanted sexual behaviour, which lies at the core of our school value - RESPECT.  

 

The recent reports of this alleged behaviour are horrific. We can’t brush it off with antiquated statements such as “boys are just being boys”. This sort of language is no longer relevant or indeed tolerated. We need to confront offensive sexist behaviour head on, and not dismiss or downplay it. I am confident that we have created and nurtured an environment where students don’t have a feeling of privilege that may accompany this type of behaviour. Outcomes go beyond academics, and success here is as important as anything else that we could achieve. 

 

Students are encouraged to report any concerns to a trusted staff member.  Others impacted by inappropriate and unwanted sexual behaviour are encouraged to report it to police. Counselling and support for sexual assault, domestic & family violence counselling is available at https://www.1800respect.org.au/

 

 

Kevin Murphy

Principal