From the Head of Junior School

Welcome back to Term Three. I trust everyone has had a good break, hopefully having enjoyed some quality time with your children. Our staff enjoyed the break as a time to re-energise for the second half of the year, but we are certainly glad to have our students back, refreshed and ready to learn. 

This week, parents may have heard the news that YouTube has been added to the list of sites to be part of the Australian Government social media ban for children under the age of 16 as of December this year (Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024). This legislation is designed to protect young Australians from the growing risks associated with social media use, including exposure to harmful content, cyberbullying, and addictive design features.

For families in our Junior School, this initiative aligns closely with the school’s commitment to child safety, emotional wellbeing, and responsible digital citizenship. The use of technology at school is a topic that prospective parents often raise when considering Girton for their children. In our Junior School, technology is used as a learning tool. Computers and other devices are used when and where they are needed and any sites accessed are done so for educational purposes and through the school network safety filters. 

The new legislation is supported by extensive research from the Australian eSafety Commissioner, which found that 37% of children aged 10–15 experienced their most harmful online interactions on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. These platforms often use persuasive design features like infinite scroll, autoplay, and algorithmic recommendations that encourage prolonged engagement and can expose children to inappropriate or distressing content.

Last year, our staff attended a professional development talk by Associate Professor Scott Griffiths from the University of Melbourne about how TikTok and other social media sites use algorithms to determine the content that is delivered to users. Dr Griffiths has done much research on the links between social media use and body image issues, eating disorders and social anxiety. His explanation of the algorithms and how they allow platforms to bombard us with content was alarming. 

This legislation reflects growing concern about the impact of social media on young people’s mental health and sleep patterns. There is extensive research that links excess social media use with depression, anxiety, emotional distress and quality of sleep issues (Davis & Goldfield, 2024 American Psychological Association, Xie & Wang, 2025 BMC Public Health, Lust & Danzey, 2025 Oxford University).

So, what does this mean for our Junior School families? Under the new law, social media platforms must:

• Prevent under-16s from creating or maintaining accounts
• Deactivate existing underage accounts
• Implement robust age verification systems.

Children will still be able to access YouTube Kids and view educational or health-related content provided they are not logged in, ensuring access to beneficial resources.

At Girton, this change complements existing digital safety initiatives, including our Child Safety practices, curriculum-integrated emotional intelligence, wellbeing and digital safety lessons.

What can parents do? Girton encourages families to take proactive steps, including:

• Talk openly with children about the ban and its purpose
• Use parental controls to reinforce boundaries at home
• Promote offline activities that build creativity, resilience, and connection
• Stay informed through sites such as the eSafety Commissioner (https://www.esafety.gov.au/), the Alannah and Madeline Foundation (https://www.alannahandmadeline.org.au/what-we-do/prevention-programs/esmart) and the Raising Children network (https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/media-technology).

Higgs Hall Update

Unfortunately, works on Higgs Hall have not progressed as quickly as we had hoped they would. When we relocated our students out of the Thomas Building, we hoped that we would be able to secure the two external walls, bring our students back into Thomas Building and complete the rectification works on the affected walls. At the end of Term Two, we were alerted to other potential issues with the two other walls of the Hall, so the engineers were engaged to complete further assessments. These assessments have led to some adjustments to the initial scope of works. These adjustments require resubmissions to the Council Planners which have delayed any support works, rectification or renovation works. 

We are still optimistic that approvals will be provided soon, allowing us to secure access to the Thomas Building while work on the Hall is completed. Further updates will be provided when we know more.

Mr Don Thompson

Head of Junior School