From the Director of Student Culture & Character Development

New Mobile Phone Policy

I just want to thank the many parents who have contacted the School applauding the new policy on phones. We are very grateful for the support in encouraging our young people to have face to face conversations to build quality friendships and relationships.

Our new Policy

All students in Years 7 – 10 must keep their phones in their locker. Each student has their own locker and is strongly encouraged to place an actual lock on this box to keep their possessions secure. The School does not require students to bring their phones to School, therefore, we take no responsibility for their safe keeping. 

All students in Years 7 - 10 have been advised that any phones being carried on their person will be confiscated for the rest of the day and that repetition of this behaviour will extend the period of confiscation and require a parent to come to the School to collect the phone. 

Students in Years 11 – 12 are still able to carry their phones with them at School. There are restrictions to their use in class, however, this freedom provides the opportunity for us to support young people in self-regulating their use of technology.

Students VAPING has become an issue for many Schools across NSW since the return to normal attendance and timetables after COVID regulations. Unfortunately, this has now become a problem for some students at BMGS. The students are using the toilets during breaks to carry out the vaping. The School’s attitude towards this is to attempt to educate and prevent rather than punish. We seek your assistance in this process. Please speak with your young person/s and explain how detrimental this habit is to their health. 

The other issue to consider with this habit is the money they are providing to the suppliers that could be put to better use. The PDF below is the first of a series of educational resources that will be provided via this newsletter. I hope they assist you with your conversations with your young person.

Stand Tall

BMGS – Year 9 students will be attending the 2022 Stand Tall Event on 8th June.

Year 9  parents should have received an email informing them of this excursion.  Please return the appropriate portion of the permission note as instructed in the email

They are mums who had the desire to see change in the next generation by providing young students with hope for their future. Jeanine and Angela set about creating a unique one-day TEDx style event which has the ability to get cut-through with teenagers and change their mind sets - and ultimately the course of their lives.

From humble beginnings in 2013 where 1,200 secondary students sat in a school hall to hear inspiring stories of hope from a diversity of speakers, the success of this first event triggered a new way of providing effective wellbeing lessons to secondary students. Stand Tall has now become the largest youth event of its kind in Australia, experiencing exponential growth over the last eight years. Student cohorts, from a range of schools (generally years 8 to 11), gather in the massive ICC Sydney theatre to hear messages of hope from speakers who have either faced major adversities, or set themselves incredible goals and have then gone on to lead amazing lives. 

Mrs Jaqueline Haines

From the Director of Student Culture & Character Development