Principal's News
Amy Porter, College Principal | Image: Our top 2020 VCE students
Mental Health
Many in our community, including myself, are struggling with the return to 'semi-normality' after the lockdowns of 2020. As we approach the conclusion of Term 1, we have noticed a higher level of fatigue in our students and staff. Whilst we all want to return quickly to our pre-Covid world, the truth is that we will take some time to do this. Below are my tips for looking after our students as a community and for parents/carers specifically:
- Remind Year 10-12 students that they are not alone, every student in Melbourne experienced the same conditions. Going into exams and assessments, they are not more disadvantaged than others and teachers know where they have gaps in their learning and are actively aiming to support them to 'plug; these gaps
- Suggest that they speak to their student manager if struggling with learning or wellbeing
- Encourage students to 'do their best' and to be kind to themselves when they don't achieve their goals the first time around. We want students to see their areas for improvement and actively work on these - this is excellence at our school
- Be sympathetic to their struggles and show kindness but ensure that routines are back in place to create a sense of security
- Encourage 8-9 hours sleep, healthy eating, exercise, positive social activities.
Consent and supporting our students to be young people of great character
Consent has some clear messages
It’s clear
It’s coherent
It’s freely given
It’s reversible
It changes from situation to situation
It is enthusiastically communicated
It’s required
Over the past months our community has been overwhelmed with the stories of young women who have had their human rights violated through sexual assault and sexual harassment. Sexual assault impacts all areas of our community and anyone, male or female, young or old, can be a victim. It is never acceptable and has lifelong ramifications on the mental health and wellbeing of survivors.
Early on in my tenure as a Principal, I was made aware of the need to address inappropriate attitudes and behaviours towards girls and women within our school community. As a woman, it concerns me that the same issues I faced as a teenager are often still present for the teenagers we teach today. I question why as a society we have not progressed further and accepted that all humans have a right to dignity and respect.
Whilst the press has labelled criticism at schools for the behaviours of boys and men, we know that it takes a village to raise a child and the work of schools is to educate primarily and also to support parents to help their children navigate the changing landscape as they move from childhood to adulthood. It is extremely complex raising teenagers and we know that parents aim to do their best and we try to support them in their endeavors. We also know that as societal expectations change (for the better) we need to provide additional education for our young people. At our school we start by using our College values of Respect and Integrity to discuss appropriate and inappropriate conduct and behaviours. These values make it very easy to ask the best of our students - respecting the rights of others and acting in a morally appropriate way.
Two years ago the Health and Physical Education Department were trained in teaching the Respectful Relationships curriculum at Years 7-9. We now teach appropriate content from this curriculum through health and Djeembana. We also work with students and families through our Life Skills program targeting dedicated programs by external providers - Man Cave, Tomorrow Woman and Elephant Ed, all of which address some of the issues that are currently being discussed in our community. We are only in the early stages but will persist in improving this education to support our students to understand their responsibilities and their rights.
In the spirit of supporting parents, below are links to some websites that will support you to discuss consent with your child/children. I have also included a powerful article from Michael Carr-Gregg. I am not providing this as a criticism, but as a suggestion that we all need to work together to support our boys (and girls) to be people of great character.
Michael Carr-Gregg Article
Parent Guides - Sex and the law
https://parentguides.com.au/sex-and-the-law/
Reach-Out
Bodytalk
https://bodytalk.org.au/relationships/relationships-consent/
Congratulations to the class of Class of 2020
When we think of 2020, we think of the COVID-19, the lock downs and the time that students and staff and parents spent in remote learning and in working from home. It seems to have generally been a year of bad news!
Through all of the trials and tribulations of 2020, there are many good news stories. One I want to share with you is the exceptional outcomes of our class of 2020. Throughout 2020 our year 12s continued to work exceptionally hard and as a result they produced outstanding results.
Congratulations to our top students, particularly our Dux Sienna Southen and our Dux Proximus' Em Nichols and Ella Barlow.
Class of 2020 pathways
The academic and workplace pathways being undertaken by our students post school are highly varied. We are proud of our alumni and their desire to pursue their passions and make a difference to our community both locally and globally.
Examples of the university, TAFE and apprenticeship pathways of our recent graduates include
Business
Social Work/Psychology
Early Childhood Education
Biomedical Science
Fine Arts
Computer Science
Film and Television
Biomedicine
Primary and Secondary Inclusive Education
Health Sciences
Sport and Exercise Science
Digital Media Technologies
Commercial Cookery
Acting
Music Performance
Science/Global Studies
Building Design
Politics, Philosophy
Economics/Arts
Fine Arts (Visual Art)
Biomedical Science
Dermal Sciences
Nanotechnology/Applied Sciences
Physiotherapy
Environmental Science
Nursing
Information Technology
Fashion Merchandising
Criminology/Psychological Science
Nutrition
School Council 2021
Following the recent School Council elections I would like to introduce our Council members for 2021:
College Principal: Amy Porter
School Council President: Andrew Barlow
School Council Vice-President: Serge Sardo
School Council Treasurer: Sam Davies
Student Members: Dan Castle, Evie Lipkin
Parent Members: Kristina Wolchyn, Andrew Dougall
Staff Members: Viv McElwee, David Hall
Community Members: Scott Henson
New Internet provision - Sandy participates in trial!
Sandringham College (Holloway Road Campus) has been selected as the only secondary school in the state to trial a new internet connection that provides direct internet service to the school. It is traditional for the internet to be routed through a central DET point, this new service should improve connectivity and speed of service for staff and students and if successful will be rolled out to the all DET schools. We look forward to feedback from students and staff.