Principal's Report

Dear College Community,

There has been a lot going on over the past two months across the College. Our community is continuing to flourish in so many aspects of student learning, and I am proud of our students and teachers as they work together to provide and engage in opportunities to showcase their talents. I know you will enjoy reading this newsletter and I encourage everyone to continue to participate in events and programs on offer in our community.

School Achievements

During term 3 schools receive their Naplan results as well as the Student Opinion Survey results. It is great to see that our students are making great progress in their achievement levels and in how they are feeling at and about our school. At Craigieburn Secondary College we are purposeful in our practices, structures and processes to ensure that students are in the ‘right place to learn’, both physically and emotionally.

Student absences

Reduced the number of students with greater than 20 days absence by 18% ytd
Reduced the number of unapproved absences by 3.5% ytd

Recess/Lunch Structure

Over the past year we have been mindful towards how are students managing the school day. Student and staff feedback indicated to us that a minor change to how long recess and lunch are will have some positive impacts.

For 2020 our longer break will begin at 11:36am for 45 minutes and the shorter break will begin at 1:33pm for 25 minutes. School start and finish times are not affected.

This change aims to promote the health and wellbeing of our students. As many of our students come to school not having had breakfast, giving them a longer break early on will hopefully allow them to eat a ‘lunch’ meal which hopes to promote a more sustainable diet.

Additionally it aims to assist in addressing school safety for both staff and students as it will give students a bigger break at the beginning of the day having been in classes for over two and a half hours prior to the break. This will hopefully help reduce tensions both within the yard and in the classroom.

Mobile Phones at School 2020

From Term 1, 2020 there will be a new mobile phone policy for all government schools. The policy means phones brought to school must be switched off and stored securely during the school day. At Craigieburn Secondary College we have always believed mobile phones and devices to be a distraction to learning and social interactions. Our current policy, which does not allow students to have their mobile phones out during the school day, has been updated fully align to the Department of Education’s policy. A copy of Craigieburn Secondary Colleges Mobile Phone policy is available on our website.

The aim of this policy is to provide:

a safe environment to learn without inappropriate mobile phone use (including cyberbullying) or distractions greater opportunities for social interaction and physical activity during recess and lunchtimes.

The use of technology is important, but the risks and benefits from its use need to be managed. I have included links to a couple of research articles below. A full list can be found on the DET website at this link: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/parents/going-to-school/Pages/Mobile-phones-in-schools.aspx

Smartphones and Cognition: A Review of Research Exploring the Links between Mobile Technology Habits and Cognitive Functioning is a review of academic research on mobile phones. The review looked for evidence of effects of smartphone use on cognition. It reported that habitual smartphone use may have a negative and lasting impact on users’ ability to :

think,
remember
pay attention
regulate emotion.

The Mere Presence of Your Smartphone Reduces Brain Power, Study Shows

The research finds it doesn’t matter whether a smartphone is on or off or lying face up or face down on a desk - having a smartphone within sight or within easy reach reduces a person’s ability to focus and perform tasks, because part of their brain is actively working to not pick up or use the phone.

Enjoy the break.

Kate Morphy

Principal