From the Principal

Strengthening Student Voice, Student Agency and Student Wellbeing

In our Mazenod community it’s important for student voice and student agency to be strong foundations of a healthy culture that fosters meaningful learning, personal growth and positive wellbeing. When students feel heard and trusted to contribute to real decisions that affect their learning and safety, they develop confidence, responsibility and a strong sense of belonging. Nationally, research and practice affirm that empowering student voice improves engagement, wellbeing and school culture.

Since the commencement of this year, almost 170 students have participated in overnight excursions or camps, with many more to come.  As a vehicle for student voice, all students who attend camps are invited to complete a comprehensive survey which provides feedback on many aspects including feelings of safety and appropriate privacy, being respected by staff and peers, the quality of accommodation and food, and an open section where students provide their thoughts on possibilities for improvement. Students’ responses have been mature, considered, insightful and relevant. A full review of each overnight excursion and the student survey results is conducted with members of the College Leadership Team and the Teacher in Charge of the camp, and a commitment to continual improvement is richly informed by the feedback of students.

And yesterday, we further strengthened this commitment to Student voice, agency and wellbeing through the introduction of Stymie, a national, anonymous reporting platform that enables students to safely speak up for themselves or others as a bystander. ’Stymie’ is a verb meaning to stop or thwart.

Since it’s launch in 2015, Stymie has been introduced to more that 800 000 students across hundreds of schools in Australia, and in 2025 Stymie delivered more than 121 000 notifications about many kinds of harm. It works, because it is accessible 24/7, anonymous, easy to use and messages are delivered in a few seconds to members of our College Leadership Team and Pastoral Leadership Team. Stymie complements all the human and relational supports we already provide for students, and is another avenue to empower students to act when they are concerned about wellbeing, bullying, or safety.

Together, these initiatives reflect our shared responsibility to listen to students, empower their agency and ensure every young man at Mazenod College feels safe, supported and valued.

‘Leave Nothing Undared for the Kingdom of God’

God Bless. Our community remains always in my prayers.

Sabrina Hughes

Principal