Deputy Principal

We are all in this together.

I was stopped by a parent the other day and thanked for being out at Kiss and Ride. He said: “Things run so much better when you are out there.” He then proceeded to ask me if I had been in the army. For those of you who are wondering, no - I have never been in the army. Having worked in schools for nearly 30 years, I do however know a few things about how the best way to run a school in terms of getting students in and out of the College which means us all working together. 

On a morning at Kiss and Ride, we have one staff member on duty, two if I am also out there. Staff members who go out to supervise our Kiss and Drop Zone do an amazing job. They are there to assist and ensure the safe arrival of your son in a timely manner. However, they cannot do it by themselves. They need your help. As I have said before, once you turn onto Fraser Street, your son should immediately alight from your car from the passenger’s side with his school bags. The more people that do this the safer and faster it is for everyone. Realistically, it should not take a staff member to have to tell your son to get out of the car. When your son stays in the car because he wants to get closer to the top of the line, this holds everyone up, as does boys getting out of the cars to retrieve their school bags from the car boot. To be a part of a community we must all accept the expectations of the community and the College’s Kiss and Ride procedures.

I also remind all parents/carers that the only place you can drop your son off after 8:00 AM is in the Kiss and Ride line. Too often we have students dropped off in Merley Road after 8:00 AM and/or parents/carers pulling into the school car park adjacent to the pool, near the Mary MacKillop Building. This is extremely dangerous and not permitted and puts the safety of our students and staff at risk.

In the afternoon, we have three staff members on Kiss and Ride. This seems to be working quite well. However, I need to ask those of you who park in Edgar Street on the wrong side of the road and wait for your sons to get in the car and then do a U-turn so as not to ‘get caught’, to desist in doing this. Not only is it not living up to community expectations, but you are also teaching your son that he can pick and choose what rules to follow. We are not an ‘opt-in/opt-out to the rules’ school. We work together to support each other. Students have been told that they will receive a consequence if they do not follow our school procedures and instructions, regardless of whether you have told them to do something that contradicts our processes.

I have been in constant communication with State Transit in relation to our School Special buses in the afternoons. Some of our buses are overcrowded and I know that you know this. I now seek your assistance - if your son is complaining about overcrowding, can I please ask you to contact State Transit buses by going to Bus feedback | transportnsw.info

Please help us to help you by working with us to support our amazing community.

We will also soon be sending a survey to all families so we can ascertain how your son gets to and from the College in order to provide accurate data to external agencies as our College continues to grow.

Adrian Byrne

Deputy Principal