DEPUTY PRINCIPAL'S REPORT 

Returning to School for Term 2

What a wonderful thing it is to hear the ‘noise’ of young people in the school yard. We return to school with renewed energy having spent time with family and friends, many of us catching up on sleep and having the opportunity to devote our attention to other pursuits. 

One of the first things that we notice in Term 2 is the change in weather. Long hot days are quickly replaced with chilly mornings and rain during the day. We are currently transitioning into the winter uniform and already this week we have seen students benefiting from some extra layers of warmth. Some reminders about our winter uniform: 

• The PE rugby top is not an alternate school jumper, it is part of the PE uniform.
• The school jumpers sold at Clarks are made of non-allergenic material if students have skin conditions or sensitivities. In fact, it is the same material as the PE jumper.
• The winter jacket should not be worn instead of the jumper. It is an additional item that can only be worn over the school jumper. It gives extra warmth and most often students will be requested to take these off during class time given that our school is well heated.
• We have a school beanie that can be purchased at the Front Office. No other beanie should be worn. 
• Ties are expected to be worn done up and shirts tucked in. 
• We encourage students wearing the tartan skirt to wear blue tights for warmth.
• The winter skirt should be hemmed to mid knee.

Parents and students will be aware that we are undergoing a review of our uniform and it has been a great process. There has been opportunity for students to be very involved in this review and we look forward to seeing some adaptations to our uniform in the future. In the meantime, we expect all our students to uphold the current uniform standards.

Mobile phones

After a two week break I am sure our students might be out of the habit of turning off their phone and putting it away but this is certainly an expectation at our school. Students who bring a mobile phone to school should be turning it off and putting it in their locker before Homeroom in the morning. Essentially it should stay there until the last bell of the day. It would really be appreciated if parents could contact their children via the Front Office or Pastoral Care. Too often we see students coming into Pastoral Care having either sent their parents a message during class or having received one. While we understand that parents want to be able to contact their children, our policy around phones is very clear and having them during class is distracting to learning. Research shows that phones don’t even need to be turned on to divert focus, simply having them on your person can be distracting. 

Plastic Containers help our Earth

There has been a real increase in the use of plastic containers for lunches. This is a wonderful practice because it is clearly much better for our environment as it reduces the waste generated by food wrapping. It would also seem to suggest that students are bring pre-prepared food and leftovers  to school which again is wonderful for our health and the health of our world! We do notice though that a huge amount of containers and forks are left behind in the yard. Containers left in the yard are not thrown out rather they are cleaned and taken to Pastoral Care. Students who lose a container can pick them up from there. However we do have a window for reclaiming - if the container is left for over a week we recycle it. To avoid losing those great containers with the good lids, please ensure that students names are clearly visible.

Staying up to date with current affairs

We are approaching an Election and while few of our students will be voting this year it is never too early to have a good understanding of what is happening. After all, decisions made now have a big impact on our young people’s future more than anyone’s. A great source of reliable and balanced information for young people is https://www.thedailyaus.com.au/ There is an Instagram account, podcasts and newsfeeds that are presented in an easily digestible format!

I hope that Term 2 is positive, rewarding and challenging in all the best ways!