Idle hands…

I really enjoy when I have the opportunity to travel around our local area in the afternoon and I see our students in uniform pop up in all sorts of random places. I love to wave or give a cheeky honk, which is generally reciprocated with a wave, nod of the head, or a wry smile.

I am proud to say that our students, for the most part, represent the school well as they wear their school uniform in the community. A well-worn uniform can, in and of itself, be a wonderful advertisement for the College and bring a sense of pride for students.

It has been noticed that there has been an increasing number of SCC students 'hanging out' around Channel Court in the afternoons after school. While the reports about our students' behaviour at Channel Court have generally been positive, I want to give a little ‘heads up’ warning here to parents. We are receiving increasing information about teenagers around Channel Court who are intimidating and threatening others. Unfortunately, a number of our students have been on the receiving end of this intimidation and anti-social behaviour, with the police involvement on a number of occasions.

While I strongly advocate for students to spend time with their friends outside of school, I would encourage you to consider the best time and place for this. Teenagers require an increasing amount of autonomy as they grow older and develop, but as parents we need to help set them up for success with this. Have conversations about what they will be doing and where, about who they will be hanging out with and about what to do if they don’t feel comfortable in a situation so that they can be pre-prepared. This is best done as a conversation. We want our children to feel safe and comfortable sharing this information with us.

Our children feel safer when they know their boundaries. When clear boundaries are set, parents can lovingly call their children to account when they choose to cross those boundaries.

We want our students to be shining lights in our community, displaying courage, love, compassion, faithfulness and generosity to those around them, as we know that you, their parents do too. We encourage you to help them do so by considering the best time and places for them to ‘hang out’ with their friends.

Blessings

Todd Barker

Executive Coordinator | Head of Secondary