From the Leadership Team
Respectful relationships
Jon Charlton, Principal
On a regular basis, the Kilvington community has heard me say that one of my core convictions is that each of us is of infinite value and intrinsic worth. This notion is reinforced by my Christian upbringing and my love of words such as Namaste, which I understand to mean, ‘I honour the greatness in you, I honour the place in your heart where lives your courage, love, hope and dreams’. Essentially, I believe we are all miracles and wonders of nature, and therefore should be treated with the utmost respect and dignity.
Therefore, it deeply distresses me to hear the ever-increasing reports of sexism, sexual harassment, violence and bullying, perpetrated by some boys and men against girls and women. Just in the past month, we have come to hear of a petition started by Sydney woman Chanel Contos which has called for a more thorough and earlier education about consent. She is wanting to draw attention to how frequently girls experience sexual assault from all-boys’ school students in Sydney.
So far, more than 37,000 have signed her petition, 3,500 plus have shared their distressing stories, and many schools have been named. We have also heard of allegations of rape being brought against the highest ranking legal officer in the country – Christian Porter MP.
In the past weeks, allegations have been directed at students from a nearby private school who were reported to be speaking disgustingly and disrespectfully about women on a bus.
Women are rightfully enraged and rightfully speaking up. The large number of women who attended the recent March 4 Justice in Melbourne – and other marches across Australia and the world – was heartening to see. While some of our senior politicians are portrayed as not listening, or as silent on the issue – fairly or unfairly – it just may be, finally, we are at a tipping point of change.
Clearly many men have not been very good at listening, or understanding, or willing to look at themselves, or change. It is time for boys and men to stand up and take this issue most seriously, call out inappropriate attitudes and behaviours and be part of the movement for change.
In 2017, the newly introduced and government-endorsed Respectful Relationships program was incorporated into the Kilvington Health and Physical Education curriculum. We were selected by the Department of Education and Training as a Leading School to help roll out this initiative. It is a robust program that focuses on developing respectful and positive attitudes and behaviours.
In delivering this program, the School draws upon the expertise of our teaching staff, but also groups such as Elephant Ed. Elephant Ed is endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner and is most adept at presenting on sex education, including the issue of consent.
Last year, the Health and Physical Education staff reviewed the Health and Physical Education curriculum. In light of the Contos petition, they are now reviewing the efficacy of the consent education component. Elephant Ed is also undertaking a review of its program.
Consent education
Consent education is essentially about teaching children to ask permission before touching, embracing or becoming physical with another person.
Or as noted by Australian Psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, consent must be a mutual and informed decision, be freely given, and needs to allow someone to change their mind at any time. It is important for young people to know that without consent, sexual actions such as kissing and touching are illegal.
While we have great confidence in the Kilvington Health and Physical Education program, the success of it very much depends on the input of parents. As partners in education, as with most programs, we are most dependent on parents playing their role. When it comes to the issue of consent, it is critical that parents speak to their children and instruct them about what a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ means.
It is also critical that parents model the positive attitudes and behaviours they want to see develop in their children. The school-parent partnership is absolutely vital when it comes to raising young people with healthy attitudes and behaviours towards not just girls and women, but all people.
We clearly have a long way to go in ensuring that girls and women are treated with the utmost respect and dignity, but the wheels of change do appear to be gathering momentum.
Everyone has the right to be respected, to be treated as an equal and to feel safe and secure.
Staffing
Ms Debbie Shipston, Junior School Science teacher, has tendered her resignation to take effect at the end of the term. We thank Debbie for her contribution to Kilvington over the term, wishing her all the best for the future.
We welcome the following new replacement staff commencing Term 2:
Ms Denise Seymour - Maths teacher and Maths Support, and Miss Emma Hedger - PE and Health teacher replacing Mrs Kerryn Warburton who is taking long service leave;
Ms Megan Talbot - Humanities teacher, and Ms Samantha Kosky - Drama teacher replacing Mrs Rebecca Skovron who is going on maternity leave;
Mrs Tania Whitehead - Year 3 teacher replacing Ms Sarah Freeman who is going on maternity leave.