Dear Parents,

As part of the upcoming Parent Opinion Survey, questions regarding student safety will be asked. To give you information to then make your own judgement, today's page focusses on this topic.

Questions in the survey relate to bullying, whether your child feels safe at school be it physically, culturally, emotionally and socially. There are also questions as to whether teachers model positive behaviour, treating each other with respect and respecting other people's beliefs. For those unaware, our school does a range of things to promote these areas, many of which are detailed for you below.

School-wide Positive Behaviour Supports (SWPBS) is the framework upon which all other programs operate. It focuses on establishing agreed positive behaviours and celebrates their achievement. You may see a very visible aspect of this at assembly with student value awards, our Buzz Awards and Buzz Wheel, classroom Buzz Wheels and whole-school lessons on our school values and expected behaviours each week.

Rights, Resilience and Respectful Relationships is a program we run for all students all year to develop students’ social, emotional and positive relationship skills to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence.

Project Rock-it which is a proactive anti-bullying program designed to build on the simple premise that young people can create positive change in the world around them if we can cultivate the skills, confidence and connection needed to do exactly that.

Brainstorm Productions which is coming in term three where one of Australia’s most experienced and respected educational theatre companies use performance to teach evidence-based anti-bullying, cyber safety and student wellbeing programs. Presented by professional young performers, their programs inspire students to build resilience and positive connections.

Proactive Policing Unit is a program run by the Victoria Police each year for our grade 3-6 students. The program focuses on the 'Think You Know' presentation covering topics such as what young people see, say and do online, the challenges they may face, and how to report and get help if things go wrong.

Art & Music Therapy is offered at our school for students to have an opportunity to express their emotions in a safe and controlled environment facilitated by accredited therapists. This program provides for emotional safety and reassurance for students experiencing challenges of some sort.

SEASONS for Growth is a mental health program offered to students who experience a significant change to their home life through family separation or the passing of a family member. It provides a place where these changes can be understood as well as the emotions that come with it. It provides for emotional safety at a time of grieving which is so important in the healing process.

Harmony Day is celebrated early in the year, and it is an opportunity for our students to celebrate the wonderful cultures and traditions which make up the fabric of our community at Mackellar. Whether through food, dance, song or custom this day provides cultural safety for our students and a celebration of harmonious communities.

Day for Daniel is held in term four and commemorates Daniel Morcombe's sad loss and importantly what children can do to ensure their safety in the community. For this day we elicit the assistance of community members who help us feel safe such as emergency workers and first responders.

National Sorry Day is a day where we acknowledge the historical wrongs done to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and celebrate the rich history of these cultures over many thousands of years. This has seen us have smoking ceremonies, traditional dancers and incursions from traditional elders to develop cultural safety for first nation people within our community and understanding for the rest of our community.

The Fathering Project is an opportunity for fathers or fatherly figures to take part in school events, activities or for these figures to get together for their own development. It provides an opportunity to develop stronger connections with positive male role models which supports family bonds and social health.

Safer Internet Week is a program designed to teach students about privacy online and the dangers of sharing personal information. We run this program each year and support it through additional work in Digital Learning throughout the year. This aims to provide digital safety to our students both at school and at home.

We know however, that even with all of these preventative and proactive approaches, from time to time there will be instances where we need to intervene because students have behaved inappropriately. In the next edition, we will explore how the school addresses inappropriate behaviour. We will discuss how we assist the person who has experienced the behaviour as well as the child who displayed the behaviour as a learning experience for everyone.

Regards,

Mackellar PS

Mackellar Buzz

Empowering Global Citizens

Issue 14 · 28 Aug 2025

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