Deputy Principal

Important Notice

Before I commence my article this week, I wish to remind our families of our firm stance on the use of phones during the school day. It is for the very best of reasons: we want our students engaging in face-to-face conversations and connection to our place.  We also want our students and staff to feel safe to walk freely across the campus without fear of being filmed, photographed or voice recorded without consent. Our network is at its safest when everyone is on it as hot spotting from a phone may expose the students to sites we don’t like.  

It is our expectation that once a student walks through our gate, the phone is away and headphones are out ready to engage with the Mt A community. Once at their locker, the phone is to be secured there until 3.00pm. It is not accepted for La Cucina payments. Students have been reminded this week that taking their phone into the toilet is unacceptable.  It is gross behaviour and poses a risk to our community with a camera in our most private space of all. Friday detentions are non-negotiable and automatically given for use of phone during the school day. The reasons above are good reasons for this policy.  If your daughter is dropped off and picked up each day, you may like to consider whether their phone is necessary for bringing to school. Should you wish to get a message to your daughter, we have phones in every classroom so contacting a student quickly is never a problem. 

Despite the step up of QLD laws to prevent access to vapes for young people and the general public, recent news articles clearly show that vapes continue to be accessible to all via unscrupulous retail outlets. They are a scourge to our young people with unknown damage to their health due to the lack of regulation and the excessive amounts of nicotine. Our first priority is the health of our students. However, as vapes are illegal without prescription and at high school age along with our status as a school and any sort of smoking being strictly prohibited from 5 metres outside our boundary, please know that if a student is discovered to be vaping on site, it is a breach of student code of conduct and an illegal activity and enrolment at Mt A is at risk. 

Staff are empowered to monitor bathrooms during class time and break time and we have increased our efforts here. We do these things to keep our community safe and connected and encourage right behaviour.

We encourage our families to talk and talk often with your daughters to keep the lines of communication open on all the matters that affect young people. Here are some resources you may like to use to empower your conversations:

Vaping Exposed (Qld Health May 2025)

Information for parents and carers | Vaping Exposed (Qld Health May 2025)

School TV is a free service to our parents via MyMtA. It can be found on the Educational Wellbeing tile and the link is here. Home Page SchoolTV | Mount Alvernia College This site has many resources to assist our families with the complexities of adolescence by leading experts.

Do you want a hug, advice or space?

A Heart-Centred Approach to Self-Regulation

I received so much wisdom from Dr Justin Coulson on Monday evening at the combined parent information event with Padua College. It is such a joy to work with the Mt A Parent Partnership Panel with finding speakers for these evenings.  I thank the attending parents of both Colleges for carving out time to listen to his words. 

We were purposeful in choosing Justin and this ‘heart-centred’ topic. As adolescence commences, young peoples’ eyes turn away from their folks and look squarely at their peers when it comes to navigating the rights and wrongs of life. They don’t always make the best choices despite their best efforts. Sometimes, those poor choices happen here on campus. We ensure our policies and codes of conduct are in plenty of places for students to access – MyMtA and the College planner are two examples – to assist them in navigating choices and potential consequences.  Our heart-centred approach is to focus on and celebrate the ‘do’s’ to encourage right behaviour.  Our older students are expected to model it. Houses have integrity awards. Our Celebration of Excellence each year has mile-high trophies dedicated to upholding Franciscan values of respect, courage, joy and service to others. 

Sometimes, important deadlines are missed. Unkind acts occur. Inappropriate use of technology is possible (not always their fault…sometimes they are acting in the same way our most senior political figures and media outlets do!).  In these moments, conversations happen, procedural fairness ensues and decisions are made. Consequences sometimes follow.

The key take-aways from Monday evening that align with the Mt A’s heart-centred approach to managing our students include:

Differentiating emotions from behaviour

It is important to notice what you are managing. Are you helping someone with emotions (upset, angry, lonely) or addressing their behaviour (slamming a door, kicking a chair).  Often the two are jumbled up.  It is important to recognise what needs to be addressed.  Addressing the emotion first may very well result in a change of behaviour.

The Emotions Meter

Young people are more than happy, sad or angry!  They just don’t know it until they have the toolkit and vocabulary to help them name the emotion and manage it.  The emotions meter is placed in our Ed Wellbeing Centre, Counsellor Offices and the Educational Wellbeing Tile on MyMtA. Our Heads of House use it regularly to help our students navigate their feelings to build their language and regulation. 

Boundaries Matter

For our girls, getting in trouble at school can sometimes be the absolute worst thing that could happen. A shock for parents sometimes, too. In reality, a hard conversation or a lunchtime/Friday detention are soft landings compared to the consequences from law enforcement or other institutions outside our gates. The softer approach of our boundaries allow students to safely bump up against them as they challenge authority.  It is important for those boundaries to be there alongside the civic boundaries afforded to them as good citizens.  We do not want their first boundary cross to be in Fortitude Valley’s entertainment precinct when they push into a nightclub line at 1am at 18 years of age.

So, I return to the title of my article. Is it time for a hug (could also be empathy or acknowledgement of feelings), advice or some space?  Ask! High emotions generally equals low intelligence so not a great time to double-down when things are awry. If it is space your daughter wants, do offer it, but remind them that you will be circling back to it when the time is right. ‘I love you no matter what. We need to talk about what happened.’ Problem solve together.

Justin finished the evening with terrific advice. Emotions are real. Recognise them. Validation is important. They are also contagious. No one makes us happy or sad.  We choose it. 

And, for our girls, work out if it is the top 5 with the acronym of HALTS – are they hungry, angry, tired, lonely or stressed?  At this point in the term, any could be true. Naturally, if you have concerns about the emotional regulation ability of your daughter, please talk to us.  Your Head of House or myself are here for you.

All the very best,

Michelle Licina

Deputy Principal Student Development and Wellbeing (Acting)