Student Wellbeing

Welcome Back – it is really good for us to be here

It is hard to believe that our term is now a month old as we say goodbye to February and head towards the middle of the term.

Returning to routine can be a challenge for some after a long summer break but as time moves on we adapt to change.

Having had two weeks of Step Up at the end of last year has helped settle much of the nerves associated with a new school year and for many of our students they have really hit the ground running. 

Can we remind everyone of some of the key structures that we have in place to support your young person in their learning in 2025

The Role of the Homeroom Teacher

We place a strong emphasis on the importance of our homeroom teachers and the role they play in the care of our young people. 

This person should be the first point of call for any of their concerns and the person that you would contact if you have any concerns about their wellbeing or learning.

The homeroom teacher will follow up attendance issues and any uniform concerns and address any concerns you may have in relation to her day to day to life at Marian.

Community Leaders are also here to support both your young person and you and work collaboratively with the homeroom teachers as they work as a collective to support our community.

We have in the week from the 8th to the 17th of February conducted our Information Evenings and Meet the teacher which hopefully gave all of our families an opportunity to touch base with the staff and start building the very important relationship with you as a family.

Mrs Jennifer Stafford our Director of Students and myself are here to support all staff and students in building positive relationships and developing a wellbeing and learning program that enhances the growth of all members of our community.

Wellbeing Framework

Over the second part of 2024 the Wellbeing Team started the significant work of creating our own Wellbeing Framework based on research and significant support from material from both the Australian Wellbeing Framework and MACS – Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools.

Our Framework is constructed around our KEM Core Values of:

       Hope, Hospitality, Compassion, Courage, Justice and Wonder

Each value has key principles and goals and is linked intrinsically to our Pastoral Care program that has been refined to reflect its link to the Core Values and how it is sequenced from Years 7 -12.

We will continue this work this year and will share updates with our community as we make progress in building a framework that supports both our wellbeing and learning programs. It will truly be a Framework that reflects:

                  Learning for Wellbeing and Wellbeing for Learning 

Uniform Reminders

It is pleasing to see so many students wearing their uniform with such pride and it is clear that our school pants are certainly the preferred option for many of our students.

We made a slight adjustment to our expectations in 2025 – that is that students with a nose piercing are able to wear a plug over the course of the day. For many students this has been a positive compromise.

A couple of key reminders that have been raised by our Homeroom teachers and Community Leaders. These are:

• Wearing their blazer as their most outer garment. This is compulsory while it is not compulsory to wear your school jumper. Having been placed on gate duty at the start of the day this is our biggest concern.
• No false eyelashes or eyelash extensions.
• No acrylic or false nails
• No unusual hair colours
• Hair must be tied back in a single ponytail

We will continue to remind all students in relation to these expectations.

Leadership Process Update and Investiture Assembly

This week will see the completion of our election process for our Student leadership for 2025 for Years 8-12. 

Both our Student Representative Council and House Captains were elected at the end of last year but in the first part of this term we have elected our class representatives – our Student Participation Group and Leaders in areas such as Social Justice, Performing Arts and our Liturgy representatives.

We look forward to acknowledging these leaders at our Investiture Assembly on Wednesday 5th March and our parent community is most welcome. 

In our next edition of the Marian news, we will acknowledge all of these leaders who make a very important contribution to the growth of our community.

Child Safety Work and Presentation to the staff

As part of the professional learning program all of our staff participated in a Child Safety presentation earlier this term that covered all of the Child Safety Standards and the expectations for all of us when working with our young people. Before the end of the term all staff – teaching and non-teaching will now be expected to complete their annual responsibility in relation to Mandatory Reporting. 

Child Safety is a key responsibility for all of our staff so that you know when your child arrives at school that their safety is one of the key principles that we take very seriously and continue to review, evaluate and improve.

Child Safety Sub- Committee

With this ongoing commitment to keep all of our young people safe we established a Parent Child Safety Sub-Committee in 2024, and we hope to resume the work that was started by the committee in 2025. 

With this in mind if you would like to join our Parent Sub-Committee, please contact me at school via SEQTA direct message or by phoning the school and leaving a message. 

Everyone is most welcome to join.

Operoo Reminders

In the first part of this term, we sent an Operoo to all of our families reminding them to update their information that is included for each child in their profile and ensure that it is accurate, and that all medical information is up to date.

We are presently contacting all families in relation to medical conditions such as asthma, epilepsy and diabetes that their plans are accurate and up to date and if they have medication at school such as asthma pumps have not expired.

It is vitally important that the day-to-day information such as contact numbers are accurate particularly when we need to call home due to illness etc.

We have also noticed a trend where information such as Date of Birth changes for students and they suddenly become much older. This causes alarm bells to ring for our office as this information is something that does not usually change over your lifetime.

What we have observed is that in many instances it is because the student and not the parent have control of this account. Can we please ensure that it is the parent who is controlling this account so that your information is as accurate as it should be.

New process for our students entering the school grounds 

Over the Christmas period a new student pedestrian entrance gate was created at the front of the school that opens both at the start of the day and end of the day for students to enter and leave the property.

It also remains open to 9.00 am and in the afternoon till 4.00 pm for students that arrive late in the morning or are leaving after the school day has finished with after school classes or VET classes.

This gate has been installed to stop students from entering the school over the course of the day or leaving early via the front office.

Students who need to enter or leave the school over the course of the day should press the buzzer and reception will open the gate for them and then close it as they enter or exit.

We remind all students that this gate is the main entrance now for our school community over the course of the day.

Collection Notice for Parents/Guardians for 2025

Please find attached a copy of information from the federal government in relation to the personal information such as Residential addresses that we obligated to share with them as part of our responsibility to the government.

If you have any questions in relation to this collection notice, please direct them to the front office.

Wellbeing Tip for Everyone

With the end of summer in the coming days and as we lose some of the light that we have seen over the summer please remember to find some time in the hustle and bustle of life to find time to do something that rejuvenates and gives you energy. It may be walking the dog, playing sport or reading a book. Whatever works for you remember we cannot look after others if we do not look after ourselves