Marian College Newsletter - English

Student Wellbeing

We are half way there… 

 

We are now in the middle part of the term and we are right back into the routine of being back onsite. It is important that we remind everyone of aspects of the year that we can celebrate and those key expectations we have for all members of our community.

 

Investiture Assembly 

On Wednesday 23 February, we acknowledged student leadership in our community with our annual Investiture Assembly where all students who have been elected to a leadership position in the school receive their badges. They include:

  • School Lamp Bearers/School Captains
  • Student Representative Council – from Years 7 -12
  • Student Participation Group – 2 representatives from each homeroom in Years 7-10 and 7 leaders from both Year 11 and Year 12 that make up our Senior Leadership team
  • House Captains for Clonard, Iona, Kildare and Tara Social 
  • Justice Groups – Marian Leos, Liturgy Captains and Justice and Democracy Forum Captains
  • Performing Arts Leaders 

Therefore over 120 students were acknowledged on taking on a leadership role in the school. We have a clear focus in our Annual Action Plan about giving students a voice in the processes and decision making of the school. We look forward in future editions of the Marian News of giving you an insight into the work they will be doing over the course of the year in improving our community for everyone. 

 

We have two things happening in the next couple of weeks. Firstly, a basketball carnival organised by our Senior House Captains for the Years 7 and 8 students and, secondly, the running of O-Day which will showcase our co-curricular activities and seek to find new members and participants for these activities for 2022.

 

In this edition of the Marian, you will find a list all of the student leaders for 2022. The recording of the Investiture Assembly has now been loaded onto SEQTA for parents to access given that, due to the government guidelines, we could not have any parents attend the event.

 

Focus of the Student Representative Council in 2022

The Student Representative Council are a group that represents all of the Year Levels and  is chaired by our Lamp Bearers. They have some key projects that they will be working on this year. These include:

  • Canteen Review – updating the menu and progressing towards a cashless payment system for students. Payment by cash would still be an option.
  • Development of a Student Leadership Organisation Model - identifying how all of the student leaders work together and what each group is focusing on for 2022 
  • Child Safety Committee – continuing to focus on the ways that we can ensure the safety of all students in the community. This will include incorporating the changes to the Child Safety Standards that come into effect in July 2022.
  • Wellbeing Initiatives – to continue the work started in 2021 about finding ways for the student  to focus on wellbeing in their pastoral care classes. and what things we would like to see happening over the course of 2022. 

We look forward in future editions of the Marian of giving you an insight into the progress of the team over 2022.

 

Uniform Updates

We continue to remind all of the students of the expectations related to our uniform and while the large majority of our student body wear their uniform with pride, we are experiencing a small number of students who seem to want to push the boundaries related to these expectations. 

 

The areas that are of most concern are: 

  • Students wearing their PE uniform on days they do not have PE classes
  • Having facial piercings and trying to cover them under a mask
  • Wearing black tops underneath their PE polo
  • Not having the correct school bag – for the senior girls perhaps a hangover from the last two years where they could bring a smaller backpack when they did not have access to their lockers
  • Not wearing their blazer as the outer garment when travelling to and from school
  • Not wearing LONG white socks

We continue to have spot checks at each year level and will send repeat offenders home who push the boundaries on these expectations. We thank all of our families who are carrying out the uniform checks at home and for the majority of the school community who are doing the right thing in relation to these very important school expectations.

 

We hope that in the next week of so that the school uniform shop will re-open onsite on Wednesdays and Fridays so that students can organise their winter uniform as we head towards term two.

 

Wearing of Masks on School Buses or Public Transport 

Whilst the expectations about wearing masks at school has changed, masks are still to be worn on the Marian buses and public transport. Students are also to practice social distancing where possible. Students are expected to provide their own masks.

 

Community Concern – Vaping 

We have been alerted by a Community Police of an ongoing trend that we have also become aware of that young people are participating in vaping. This means that these students have access to the device or implement that is used for vaporing that is also described as e-cigarettes. 

 

We view the use of this device in the same way that we view smoking at school or in uniform. Therefore we remind all students that those participating in smoking will be automatically suspended. Students will be addressed on this issue and process at upcoming assemblies.

 

The Community Police has also confirmed that some local shops are selling the device to students and that the vaporised material that is used to load the device usually contains nicotine even if it is not listed as an ingredient on the packaging. We encourage all families to discuss this recent trend with their daughter’s and the consequences of their actions if they think that doing this at school is acceptable.

 

Reminder about our Mobile Phone Expectations 

We remind all members of the community about our mobile phone expectations. The most significant part of the process is that from the time students enter the school grounds until the end of the school day our mobile devices need to be locked away in lockers and not visible. If they are seen or being used they will be confiscated. 

 

If a student has their device removed for the first time they will be able to collect it at the end of the day from student reception where they will sign for collection of the device.

 

If a student has their device removed for the second time they will be able to collect it at the end of the day from student reception where they will sign for the collection of the device and they will be given a 30 minute restorative conversation regarding why they were using their mobile device. 

 

On the third occasion that they have their device removed the device will be returned only to a parent or emergency contact and a conversation will take place with the family. Students will also be issued with a 60 minute restorative conversation regarding why they are using their mobile device. 

 

We will keep you informed in coming editions of the Marian of how the process is working and we look forward to the week when we have no need to confiscate any devices.

 

Kerrie Williams

Assistant to the Principal – Student Wellbeing