Assistant Principal News

Dear Parents,

Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them (Matthew 7:12)

Over recent weeks the College staff and leaders have been managing a range of complex issues that have filtered into the school. Some of these issues require strong partnerships between the College, students and parents. Most of these issues relate to Social Media use and the engagement of students with these platforms, particularly those in junior school.

Our College community is inspired to model the Bible teachings of kindness, compassion and forgiveness, however within the intricacies of teenaghood and the navigation of social media relationships often these moral benchmarks can be misplaced. As we try to support our young people in making good choices, it is important to reflect upon our College motto,

                                     ‘The Way, The Truth, the Life’

The WAY is the way of respect and acceptance of everyone, and of being concerned for the less fortunate. 

THE TRUTH is about finding the truth in ourselves, finding our true selves, reaching our full potential, first of all in our college work and also in developing all our gifts and talents and using them to help the whole community.

THE LIFE is about contributing to the community – by our prayer and by our example, and by making everyone feel welcome and a part of our community.

While guiding our students to embrace and live these values there are also important requirements in place to ensure the safety of students from Bullying and Harassment.

Social Media is a difficult medium to supervise. Issues that are happening outside of the College escalate when the students return to school and they must interact, share a space or be surrounded by others wishing to involve themselves in the situation. This unfortunately means that the College must step in to help mediate or manage the situation. These actions may range from:

• A restorative conversation
• Communication with parents/carers
• In school Isolation
• Suspension
• Communication with the Police
• Involved of CEDWW

These practices are in place to keep all involved safe and to provide the College with the opportunity to develop strategies to support each individual student involved.

We ask our College community to please be mindful of your child's engagement with social media. Speak to them about their interactions online, monitor their devices and put in place clear guidelines for their use. If your child does encounter difficulties please:

• Take screenshots of the inappropriate communication
• Block the account 
• Communicate with the police if necessary
• Communicate with the College so we can support your child.

Please remember that if we are unaware of a situation we are unable to support your child, it is also important to remember that despite the emotion and urgency of such an issue a calm approach will result in the best outcome for your child.

Yours in Learning,

Lora Segrave

Assistant Principal