Assistant Principal Report

Once again, we navigate a changing space as our Covid restrictions ease and we move from surveillance testing to symptomatic testing. Here at the College, we continue to be hyper-vigilant about hygiene and cleanliness and we ask for your support in this by not sending your daughter to school if she is unwell. While girls no longer have to wear masks at school, students are required to wear a mask when catching public transport. 

Mental Health 

According to the World Health Organisation, mental health is a ‘state of wellbeing in which every individual realises her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her community'. Here at Brigidine, we aim to work with each student and with our families to support the mental health of our young women. In morning Pastoral Care our PEEC program is designed to instil in your daughter the “tools” to cope with the many challenges that she faces each day. Positive mental health ensures that a student is able to deal with the normal day-to-day situations that unfold. Whilst it is normal to experience ups and downs, if issues start to impact your daughter’s quality of life then it is imperative that she seeks professional support. As we near the assessment period, some students may experience a heightened feeling of stress. If your daughter would like to chat with the College Counsellor, please speak with her Pastoral Care Coordinator for a referral. 

Uniform Expectations 

Students should remember that they are ambassadors for Brigidine and so by wearing the uniform correctly and neatly, they show pride in their school and its good name. It is expected that students will conform to the uniform code like this, in itself, is an exercise in self-discipline. The school uniform is also a sign of belonging to the College and the appropriate items are to be worn as required. 

• The students are to be neat and well groomed in appearance at all times. 
• The College blazer is always compulsory when the winter uniform is worn.
• When a student is kneeling, the bottom of both the hem of the kilt and the summer dress is to touch the floor.
• Shoes are to be black, lace-ups (with low flat heels) and are to be regularly polished. All variations (e.g. buckles, high heels, ripple soles and sports shoes) are not permitted.
• T-shirts, singlets and any other item of undergarments are not to be visible at the neck of the blouse, or elsewhere. No coloured bras are to be worn under white shirts. 
• Hairstyles are to be well groomed, simple, unsophisticated, appropriate for a school student and of a style and colour that is considered acceptable by the College. Long hair is to be tied back.
• Coloured nail polish is not to be worn with the uniform. Only clear nail polish is considered acceptable. Nails are to be short to medium length. No fake or acrylic nails are deemed appropriate whilst at school. 
• Makeup - foundation, mascara, fake eyelashes, fake tan or bronzing products or similar - must not be worn with the uniform.
• Jewellery - A student may wear:
  • one small plain gold or silver earring in each earlobe
  • a wrist watch
  • a small religious icon or cross on a thin chain worn inside the uniform and sitting below the uniform’s collar or top button
• Students who choose to wear non-regulation items of jewellery will have these items confiscated. They will be stored in the College safe and returned to the student at the end of that school term
• Tattoos should not be visible
• The College school bag is the only bag permitted.
• No writing or graffiti is to appear on any item of the College Uniform. 
• An appropriate signed note is to be completed if, in the short term, a student is unable to wear the required uniform, and is to be shown to a student’s Pastoral Care Teacher or Pastoral Care Coordinator upon arrival at the College. 
• Any breach of the uniform rules will incur a uniform detention.

Julie Norman

Assistant Principal