Principals Report
Dear Parents and Friends,
Last Friday night saw our Senior School Formal held at the Shepparton Harness Racing Club – the night was well attended by students in Years 10, 11 and 12. The students looked fabulous and enjoyed a night of pizza, lollies, dancing and friendship – a huge thank you to Georgie Schofield, Paige Martin and the VCAL students who took carriage for the organisation of the evening. A beautiful night for all involved!
Our annual school Athletics Day was a great success with students from Year 7 to Year 12 engaged in a rich program of track and field events. The day was well attended and students gave their all for their respective House Team – Congratulations to Swan House who took out the honours for the day.
A huge thank you to James Griffin, Dale Cuthbert and all of the Health and PE team who worked tirelessly in the lead up to the day. Great effort!
Good luck to all of the students who have progressed to represent McGuire at the interschool athletics this week – go team!
On Wednesday students from Year 7 and Year 10 engaged in workshops run by the REACH foundation. The workshops run by REACH are led by young people and are designed to support social emotional learning, deep connections between students, a sense of belonging and the dispelling of judgements.
Year 7 students engaged in the Connections Sessions which aim to encourage empathy and support of authentic, positive expression. The sessions seek to improve awareness of behaviours and the individual’s impact on peers and the environment, to empower students to gain a greater sense of self and to understand what influences their identity.
During the sessions students were asked to explore the values that guide their behaviour, leading to greater awareness of self.
The learning outcomes of the Year 7 sessions supported our students to -
• Gain awareness of individual behaviour and its impact
• Deepen students understanding of personal values
• Increase confidence and self-belief
• Increase positive self-expression
• Identify strategies to overcome limiting beliefs
• Strengthen their ability to communicate and express themselves to others
• Heighten resilience
• Increase feelings of passion and motivation
Year 10 students from the College engaged in a Locker Room session. This session is designed for boys to explore traditional notions of masculinity and the negative consequences and behaviours that can result.
During this session our Year 10 boys were encouraged to courageously and honestly express themselves while challenging limiting gender stereotypes, judgements and beliefs.
Year 10 girls engaged in the Birdcage session which encourages girls to explore and critically question expectations and ideas about gender in society and seeks to provide ideas and tools to improve body image and self-belief.
The learning outcomes of the Year 10 sessions supported our students to -
• Have greater awareness of the impact of gender stereotypes on their peer relationships
• Have greater awareness of self and the impact of the peer group and gender stereotypes on their individual behaviour
• Have the confidence to share the sides of themselves that challenge conventional representations of gender
• Increase appreciation of each other and the ability to build meaningful connections beyond their gendered stereotypes
• Gain confidence in recognising and challenging gendered stereotypes within the community
This work supports the ongoing respectful relationships work currently being embedded across the college and was well received by our students.
Have a great week.
Kind regards, Claire Kelly
