Learning & Teaching

VCE SAC & SAT Assessment Schedule 

The Semester 2 VCE SAC & SAT Assessment Schedule will be published on Compass next week. The schedule will list the week in which SACs take place for each of the subjects. 

Accessing Maestro 

Please log into Maestro to view Semester 1 reports for Year 7-10, Maestro Rubrics for Year 7-10 and Student Dashboards for Year 7-12.

The Semester 2 Developmental Rubrics are now accessible on Maestro for students and parents to view in Years 7-10. Students are encouraged to continue to self-assess their learning based on the ‘I-can’ statements in the rubrics. 

The Impact of Pornography 

On Monday after school, our staff heard a presentation from world renowned expert in sexuality education, Dr Maree Crabee who presented about the dangers and challenges posed by the increasingly powerful online pornography industry. 

It was a very engaging and sobering presentation. We learnt that unfortunately, pornography is a common source of sex and sexuality education for young people and the content is harmful and unrealistic. We also learnt that about half of all boys have seen porn by age 13, approximately half of all girls have seen porn by age 15, and that 50% of boys and 40% of girls actively sought porn out the first time they saw it. The most cited reason for accessing pornography is due to curiosity. It is important to note that most young people access it accidently by clicking on a pop-up or link. 

There are significant gender differences in the use of pornography with far more young men than women accessing it on the internet. Online porn depicts content that is increasingly more aggressive in nature, with sex acts (overwhelmingly directed from male to females) that are dangerous, violent, degrading and painful. 

In scenes of aggression towards women, 95% of the aggression is met with either a neutral or positive response, sending the message that women like this kind of sex. 35% of porn has non-consensual material in it or initially consenting then withdrawing consent.  All of these messages are of concern to schools and families. 

Here is an excerpt from Maree's Website:

'Pornography conveys complex messages about gender, power, sexual health, bodies, pleasure, consent, performance, sexuality and sex. Young people often do not have the critical frameworks required to deconstruct and understand these messages. Many schools are looking for assistance to respond to incidents involving explicit sexual imagery. More and more schools are also keen to implement a broad, proactive approach to preventing the harms associated with pervasive and often-aggressive pornography, and to equip students to navigate healthy social and sexual development in the 21st century...'

It's challenging for our children to navigate an increasingly more complex world, both real and online. There is much negative and potentially damaging content young people might be exposed to online, regardless of whether they are searching for it or not. 

What can Parents Do? 

I have attached a set of parent tips sheets for you to consider in your conversations with your children. 

Here is a link with advice to parents for further reading, supplied by Maree. WARNING: it contains some very sobering statics and details about the porn industry and the content that is freely, and easily, available to view.

Here is an article  from the SMH about starting a conversation with your child. 

Logging into Maestro

Natalie Manser 

Assistant Principal

mar@wantirnacollege.vic.gov.au