Year 7 & 8

Transition Days

Preparations for the Year 6 – 7 Transitions Days are in full swing, and we hope the incoming Year 6s are excited about joining St George’s for two days of fun and engaging activities on 19 and 20 November. These days are designed to assist with alleviating family anxiety about this important stage in the school journey of a student and to provide a wonderful opportunity to make a few initial social connections prior to the commencement of Year 7. We ask our current Year 7 and 8 students to remain welcoming and friendly across these two days, just as our current Year 9 and 10 students were for them. 

Online safety

As we come to rely on online communication in an increasingly digital world, it is pertinent to focus on one aspect of this communication, group chats found on Apps like WhatsApp and Discord. While these online groups are an excellent forum to share information and encourage social connection, for our young people, they can sometimes become forums where misinformation, bullying, or exclusion occur.  As our students become more comfortable with communicating online, I encourage all families to have open discussions about their own expectations for their children when operating in the online world. Points for discussion could be: how many groups can the child a member of, who/where can they report uncomfortable or worrying conversations, when should they be/not be checking messages, what time must they log off each night, can they be a member of a group if they don’t know everyone in the group, what to do if they have posted something they regret and finally, do they meet the legal minimum age requirements of the App.

As part of the Year 7 Health curriculum, classes are currently learning about Cyber Safety. Lessons have included an investigation of the resources on the Australian Government’s eSafety commissioner website https://www.esafety.gov.au/young-people  and an analysis of our St George’s IT policy. The purpose of these tasks is to provide our students with information which will hopefully assist with making good decisions and in knowing where to find support should they encounter difficult situations while online.

Ms Taryn Sephton

Head of Year 7 and 8