Assistant Principals' Update

Teaching and Learning

Cyber Safety

Thank you to all parents who joined us on Monday evening to learn more about the importance of cyber safety and the use of Family Zone.

Our children are immersed in a digital world and social media has become part of their identity. More than 85% of teenagers regularly watch and upload content to YouTube as well as having accounts on other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat and TikTok.

The online world presents many challenges for our teens, and younger users, who have to learn to safely navigate the complexities of social networking. As parents we are often at a loss as to how to help our children through these challenges, as they are not ones that we experienced ourselves. The South Australian Government has developed some great resources for parents to help them in their journey. Here is a link to a clip on the topic of ‘Helping Teens Online’. I encourage you to watch this resource and sit down with your daughters about how they can keep themselves safer online.

Since the beginning of the school year, you have already heard a number of times about the importance of cyber safety. Information regarding Family Zone and the optional package for parents to use at home has been communicated via an email to all families and a separate email from Family Zone has been sent to all families, with the exception of those who opted out of the program. If you are having trouble locating your email from Family Zone, please check your inbox and Junk email. If you find this information in your Junk email box, please mark Family Zone as a ‘safe’ sender so that any further communication will be delivered straight to your Inbox. For more information on Family Zone or to setup your account via the Family Zone Parent Hub, visit www.familyzone.com/kilbreda-vic

Instructions on Setting up your Family Zone Account

Your email will contain your setup instructions. Example below…

Hi Parent,

As recently announced, Kilbreda College has partnered with Family Zone to support its cyber safety programs.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

Step 1. Activate your Family Zone account by clicking here.

Step 2. If your device hasn't already had Mobile Zone installed, please download and install it on the device/s that your child takes to school. You’ll find instructions on how to do this when you complete your Family Zone account setup.

WHY WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO USE MOBILE ZONE

Mobile Zone is a downloadable app/application that can be installed on your child’s device. It makes every device a learning device at school, meaning safer students, less distraction and better educational outcomes.

BUT DON’T WORRY

Mobile Zone is not spyware. It doesn’t read your child’s messages, it is safe and secure and you have the ability to disable tracking, reporting, filtering and more.

The Family Zone support team is here to help. You can reach us on 1300 398 326 or click the button below to schedule a callback.

Jane Ward

Assistant Principal: Learning and Teaching

Wellbeing and Engagement

Police Presentation

In response to a number of assaults, thefts and unreported crimes committed by young people on young people in the Bayside area, the Police requested to speak to all students on this issue and discuss with them ways that they can keep themselves safe.

On Tuesday 18 February, Leading Senior Constable Chris Dawson, a crime prevention officer from the Moorabbin Proactive Policing Unit presented to all students on street robberies, ways that we can support each other to stay safe and actions that we can take to ensure our safety.  As a follow up to this presentation, Mr Dawson requested that the following information be disseminated to families and encouraged parents/carers to have conversations with their children about their safety.

Promoting Positive, Confident and Respectful Relationships

As educators, we aim to create a learning environment that is supportive and caring.  Such an environment entails many factors; however, a highly important one is the quality of relationships that are developed and maintained throughout the school community.

Part of our job as educators is to validate our students’ struggles and give them the tools to work through them.  The fine line between bullying and what is actually just a broken relationship, combined with our young peoples’ inexperience in dealing with these highly emotional moments, is a huge challenge at times.  In these moments, the limbic system of the brain responds, making it difficult for students to find the language needed to clearly articulate their emotions and needs.  The ability to participate in restorative discussions is something we can teach young people to do.

To strengthen our capacity to be a just community where positive relationships flourish, we sought the services of David Vinegrad – the Director of Behaviour Matters, a business dedicated to assisting schools and organisations to get the best out of what they do.  On Monday 10 February, David worked with Kilbreda staff to increase their understanding of restorative practices and its capacity to provide a pathway to building trust among students and staff, thereby increasing engagement and passion for learning in a comfortable and supportive environment.

House Spirit

Teamwork, participation and community are essential elements of our House System.  All students and staff are placed in one of our four Houses, which are Brigid, Delany, Kildare and Tullow.  A key focus of our Year 12 Student Leadership Team this year is to strengthen House Spirit and cultivate a strong sense of House pride and culture.  On Tuesday 18 February, our Year 12 House Captains led spirited assemblies that focused on the upcoming House Swimming Carnival, which will be held at Carnegie Pool on Friday 28 February.  House chants were enthusiastically practiced, the importance of high student participation and striving to achieve one’s best was emphasised with a rainbow of friendship and camaraderie on full display. 

International Women’s Day Breakfast

Kilbreda College will host an International Women’s Day Breakfast to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women.  The theme for this year’s breakfast will be #EachforEqual – An equal world is an enabled world. It calls us to actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden perceptions, improve situations and celebrate women’s achievements.

Kilbreda College invites all students and a significant adult in their life to join us for breakfast on Friday 6 March from 7.15am – 8.30am in the Sister Mary Dalton Hall.  Bookings for this event are essential.  Please be aware that this event books out quickly.  Bookings can be made via TryBooking https://www.trybooking.com/BIQKT

Stephanie Smyth: Assistant Principal

Wellbeing and Engagement