VSC Updates and Information
Vermont Secondary College
UPCOMING EVENTS & KEY DATES
KINGS BIRTHDAY - MONDAY 12 JUNE 2023
A reminder that the King’s birthday long weekend is Monday the 12th of June.
GENERAL ACHIEVEMENT TEST (GAT) - THURSDAY 15 JUNE 2023
For ALL students studying a unit 3 and 4 VCE.
VSC MID-YEAR REPORT WRITING DAY – THURSDAY 15 JUNE 2023
Parents/guardians are also reminded that Thursday 15th June is a pupil free day. Vermont Secondary College will be using the day as an Assessment and Report Writing
Day and students in Years 7 – 11 are not required at school, except for those students in Year 10 and 11 completing the GAT.
VCE SENIOR SOCIAL - FRIDAY 16 JUNE 2023
6.30pm start and concluding at 11:30pm. Cathies Lane Receptions, 90 Cathies Lane, Wantirna South.
SEMESTER TWO BEGINS - MONDAY 19 JUNE 2023
Reminder to parents/guardians and students that the whole school (Years 7 – 12) moves into the second semester in the last week of this term starting on Monday the 19th of June.
2:30PM FINISH - FRIDAY 23 JUNE 2023
A reminder to the school community that on the last day of Term 2, Friday 23rd June, we have a 2:30pm finish. Term 3 begins on Monday the 10th of July, ending Friday 21st September.
Access to Pornography and its Impacts – May 2023
Aidan Message (Assistant Principal)
As highlighted by a recent Sydney Morning Herald article series https://www.smh.com.au/national/what-violent-porn-is-doing-to-australia-s-teens-20230515-p5d8ir.html , young people accessing pornography can have concerning impacts on their development and relationships with others.
As noted in the editorial, nearly half of teenage boys have seen pornography by the age of 13 and nearly half of all girls by the age of 15. Beyond this, explicit and sexualised language and imagery is pervasive on social media applications including Snapchat, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube.
As a school, we have unfortunately noted an increase in the use of highly explicit and sexualised language amongst students, particularly at the year 7 and 8 levels.
As parents and teachers, we are all concerned about the impacts of what our children are accessing online and how this can manifest in social emotional development and relationships with peers. In our Health and Physical Education classes we are able to engage with students about a number of these topics. Further, this year we have engaged Elephant Education to work with our year 8 and year 10 students.
In the year 8 sessions, run in early June, students will take part in two sessions. The Sex and Social Media session aims to educate students on the complexities and ramifications of sexting, and the ramifications and legalities of sharing explicit images, strategies to combat peer pressure and support peers, and digital footprints. This is followed by the Language and Labelling session which aims to promote more respectful relationships and prevent harmful language and labelling, considers the power of language, labelling others for their sexual behaviour and clothing choices, and exposing slut-shaming.
It is also vital that as parents and families we are aware of the challenges young people face and how we can ameliorate them.
Please speak with your children around what they might have seen online. Try to foster the opportunity to have open conversations about how the language we use can impact our development and how we see and engage with the world. Beyond a conversation with your children, please also act. Turn off your router and ensure devices are left on the kitchen bench at night to limit unsupervised internet access.
For further information on the effects of pornography on children and young people please see the links below for a research snapshot from the Australian Institute of Family Studies and an article from the Australian Psychological Society.
https://aifs.gov.au/research/research-snapshots/effects-pornography-children-and-young-people