DEPUTY PRINCIPAL'S REPORT 

Student belongings

We continue to see an extraordinary amount of lost property accumulating in Pastoral Care, in the LRC and in the yard. Hats, jumpers and jackets, mostly unnamed, are piling up in Pastoral Care. Drink bottles and plastic containers are continually left out in the yard or in the LRC. While it is wonderful to see our students with reusable containers, they no longer continue to be reusable if they are left behind and thrown out! Please ensure that all student belongings are named clearly so that they can be returned.

It is also important for all students to lock their lockers, both during the day and after hours. Last week I had to access a students locker to collect some books and it became apparent that the majority of lockers were unlocked. Not only were they not secured, most of them had phones in them. A big tick for the students who have their phone in their locker but leaving it there unlocked is a big risk. 

Phone use

Generally our students manage their phones very well. We do not have a large number of phone related issues, certainly these have decreased since we introduced the new rules about phones at school. It is always worth noting though that young people need ongoing support in the responsible and respectful use of phones, especially around the use of social media.

Some basic rules that students might adopt:

1. Never post on social media what you are not comfortable with the whole world seeing. Social media is never really private, even when you think it is!
2. Never talk about other people negatively on social media.
3. Never bully someone on social media.
4. Never post pictures of yourself on social media in any state of undress. Once you send the image, you have lost control of it.
5. Always ask permission before posting a photo of someone else.
6. Never send or post memes that are pornographic, racist or otherwise hurtful to others.
7. Do not impersonate others on social media.

These are taken from a good article for parents on Social Media Rules for Teens

Drinks in class

Students at St Mary MacKillop College are permitted to have water bottles in class with the exception of the Science Labs. Water bottles should be placed on the floor away from MacBooks and students should not be filling them during the lesson. While it is good to stay hydrated, students can easily get through a lesson without drinking water. Students are not permitted to bring other liquids such as coffee or milk drinks into class. 

Supporting our community

We know that over the past few weeks families in our school community, like those in our town and district, have faced being isolated by flood waters, have had to move to safer accommodation and have had to deal with the threat of rising waters. By no means has this gone away and we are very conscious that students and families are dealing with really challenging times. It was wonderful, given that this is all around us, that we were able to start sandbagging at school. Not all of us can operate an excavator, or top up the levee but our students certainly got into the community spirit by filling up sandbags. Though some people were under the misapprehension that the sandbags were to protect the school, the 26 pallets we filled will be used in the community at the point of most need. I was lucky enough to work alongside a number of classes filling sandbags and the mood was extremely positive, the students and staff were happy to help and I am sure felt a great deal of satisfaction that they could do something practical to assist. We will continue to fill sandbags this week and I am sure we will have no shortage of volunteers. Last week our VCAL class baked lovely treats for local services to thank them for all the work they have been doing with the flood response. They delivered these to very grateful volunteers and emergency service personnel. 

We are very proud of our students for supporting these efforts. It has been a true reflection of the wonderful St Mary MacKillop College spirit!