Especean

Wellbeing - Senior School

Compulsory School Attendance: Information For Parents 

Did you know that if your son attended St Patrick’s between Years 5-12 and missed as little as eight days in a school term, by the end of their time at the College they will have missed over a year of education? 

 

In New South Wales, all children from six years of age are legally required to attend school or be registered for home schooling. After they complete Year 10 and until they turn 17 years of age, students then have the following options. They may also be in: 

  1. full-time further education and training (e.g. TAFE, traineeship, apprenticeship)
  2. full-time, paid employment of an average of 25 hours per week 
  3. or a combination of both of the above. 

Children are expected to attend all College activities, on time. If your son has to be absent from the College, you must inform the College and provide a reason for your son’s absence within seven days. A small number of absences may be accepted; for example, if your son has to go to a special religious ceremony, is required to attend to a serious and/or urgent family situation, is too sick to go to school or has an infectious illness. Ordinarily, it is expected that your son will have at least 90% attendance each year.When absences are unexplained by parents/carers, or the explanations are unacceptable, the College will work with parents/carers to help address the issue. The main aim is to sort out what is preventing the child from getting to school and putting strategies in place to help. Sometimes, the College will ask support staff and other agencies to assist. It is important to understand that further action will be taken where students at compulsory school age have recurring numbers of unexplained or unacceptable absences from the College. Some of the following actions may be undertaken:Attendance meetings and compulsory attendance conferences - The aim of the meeting/conference is to help identify strategies to support the boy and family. Other agencies may also be invited along to help if parents/carers agree. The outcome of an attendance meeting/compulsory attendance conference is for the parties to agree to undertake certain actions to improve the boy’s attendance. These actions are written in the form of undertakings. Applications to the Children’s Court - A Compulsory Schooling Order Legal compliance can be sought through an application to the Children’s Court for a Compulsory Schooling Order. The aim is to assist a family and/or boy to address the issues which are preventing satisfactory school attendance but has the added enforcement of a Court’s powers. Prosecution in the Local Court - If all attempts by the College and regional support staff fail to improve a student’s attendance, action can be taken in the Local Court and the result can be fines up to a maximum of $11,000.Adapted from Student Attendance at http://www.cecnsw.catholic.edu.au.

Peer Support 

Day one in a new place can be daunting for any person, even more so if you are 10 years old and starting at a new school. Excitement, anxiety, nerves, anticipation…  

 

Luckily our Year 10 Peer Support Leaders were on hand to settle them in and make them feel welcome. In just five short years since they were in the same position themselves, the leaders came to school on their final day of holidays to meet the new Year 5s. There was only time to learn a few names and play a few games, however, was immediately evident how much the younger boys appreciated having the older students around. 

 

During the remainder of Term 1 there will be five more visits from the Peer Support Leaders, where they will cover all aspects of our Wellbeing Framework. This comprises of the social, emotional, spiritual, physical, and academic dimensions here at SPC.  

 

In just one meet and greet, the Year 10s ‘let their light shine’ as a beacon for the new students. For the Year 5s it was a great welcome to the SPC community. Some really positive signs for the rest of the program! Well done all! 

 

Mr Stephen Cooper                                                      Mr James Biviano

(Year 5 Coordinator)                                                     (Year 10 Coordinator)

Safer Internet Day and Online Wellbeing Webinar Courses for Parents and Carers

Tuesday 6 February marked Safer Internet Day, a global initiative to raise awareness of online safety issues. 

 

The eSafety Commissioner leads the initiative in Australia. We educate people about online safety risks, like online abuse, how to be safe online and where to go for help. This Safer Internet Day we're encouraging you to take three simple actions when approaching online safety: Connect. Reflect. Protect. 

  • Connect safely by keeping apps and devices secure and reviewing your privacy settings regularly. 
  • Reflect on how your actions online may affect others or your safety. 
  • Protect yourself and others by visiting eSafety.gov.au to find out how to stay safe online and report online abuse.

By doing these things and sharing the Connect. Reflect. Protect message, we can work towards making every day a Safer Internet Day.

I recently received communication from the eSafety Commission advising that online webinars designed for parents / carers with primary and early secondary students are now available; these live webinars provide the knowledge, skills and tools to support your children to have safe online experiences. 

 

Please click on the link and navigate through the tabs to register: Webinars for parents and carers | eSafety Commissioner

 

2024 Webinar Schedule: 2024-parent-carer-webinar-schedule.pdf (esafety.gov.au)

Downloadable resources to help start discussions about online safety issues and strategies with your child: Parent resources | eSafety Commissioner.

 

Robert Simpson

Director of Senior School