Student Wellbeing

Uniform Reminders

As we start to approach the cold winter months could I remind all our families that our uniform shop is open on both Wednesday’s and Friday’s during the normal operating hours.

It is worth noting that our school pants have been a very popular item across all year levels.

Please note the following expectations that we have in relation to our uniform:

• Only wearing Health and PE uniform on the days that you have those classes
• Hoodies are not part of the school uniform
• The most outer item to be worn to and from school is the school blazer
• The school tie is a compulsory item with the winter uniform
• Nail extensions and facial piercings are not part of the uniform expectations

If you have, any concerns in relation to uniform please contact your daughter’s homeroom/mentor teacher or Year Level Leader.

We recognise that our uniform is an important element of our College identity and have the expectation that our students wear it properly and correctly.

Community Police Visits for Pastoral Care

On Friday 27 May, the Brimbank Proactive Community Unit visited the College to talk to our Year 9 and 10 students about issues that concern both our young people and the Police.

They covered such relevant topics as:

• Bullying – They made reference to the story related to Brodie’s Law and how offences can occur both in person or online
• Social Media – the impact of not knowing whom you may be talking to online. They used the story of Carly Ryan and how she was tracked by an adult pretending to be a 16-year-old boy for 18 months.
• What is identified as Assault and the dangers of invading another person’s personal space.
• Weapons
• Vaping – the dangers and concerns that this raises in relation to using vapes

The talk was both relevant and real for our students and delivered in a manner that made the information important and informative. 

Later on in the year the Community Police will return to speak to our Year 7, 8 and Senior students. We will also apply for them to return to our school in the first couple of weeks of 2023 to remind students of these important issues.

Child Safety Standards

In the last edition of the Marian News we highlighted the student version of our Child Safety Policy.  This document was hyperlinked in the previous edition for all of our families to see.

In this edition of the Marian, we have asked our Student leadership team to highlight for our community the first two pages of the policy in a manner that is relevant for both our student body and community.

This is what the Student Leaders had to say:

The first page of the Child Safety Policy highlights the schools responsibility for the safety of children and young people. The College ensures that each individual within the school feels safe whenever they enter; this involves the students not needing to feel worried, scared or begin to develop levels of anxiety that a particular incident could happen that may or may not affect them. 

From a student leader perspective, if I see anything that may seem to be harmful and can affect the safety of students and teachers, my role would be to pass on this message to the Senior Leadership Team who work closely with us to ensure the safety of students is being met! This links in with not only the College being responsible for the safety of students but also the whole school community looking out for one another. The wellbeing of students is an aspect where the school strives to promote. This could be through caring for one another and protecting students from any form of abuse. The policy is also in place to ensure choices that are being made by the school that are safe for all.

The second page of the Child Safety Policy concerns the students being able to use their voice so that they feel safe about speaking up no matter how big or small the issue could be. A strong area within Marian is student leadership. All students leaders raise awareness about certain issues and the school works to ensure that the issue is resolved while keeping all safe. This is a strong element under student voice. Even students who do not hold a leadership position should feel comfortable to speak with a teacher or any staff member about something they feel is unsafe. This relates to having good student-teacher relationships to ensure that if the student is feeling unsafe, or has any concerns, they should be able to turn to any teacher they trust. Furthermore, when a student is sharing a concern specifically about safety, the information will only be passed onto those who can make a difference about the situation e.g. the Senior Leadership Team. Also, if students are talking to their Year Level student leaders they will pass it onto the Senior Student Leadership Team. Having a sense of safety and comfort is the community that Marian is continuing to strive towards.

In the next edition of the Marian we will focus on pages 3 and 4 of the Child Safety Policy.

Parent involvement in the Child Safety Committee

Following on from our Policy we formally invite any parent who would like to join our Parent Child Safety Sub Committee to contact myself – Kerrie Williams via email or Direct Message and indicate their interest.

We look forward to hearing from you – as we share the importance of Child Safety together.

Kerrie Williams

Assistant to the Principal – Student Wellbeing