Wellbeing

Child Safe Standard 1 – Aboriginal Cultural Safety

The journey to making Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional College truly inclusive for all students must start with the ability of the College, to meet the needs of Aboriginal children and their families.

It is incumbent upon organisations, especially academic institutions to establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued.

Child Safe Standard One helps our community know what is expected. Relevant points pertaining to the standard are listed below.

1.1    A child’s ability to express their culture and enjoy their cultural rights is encouraged and actively supported.

1.2    Strategies are embedded within the organisation which equip all members to acknowledge and appreciate the strengths of Aboriginal culture and understand its importance to the wellbeing and safety of Aboriginal children and young people.

1.3    Measures are adopted by the organisation to ensure racism within the organisation is identified, confronted and not tolerated. Any instances of racism are addressed with appropriate consequences.

1.4    The organisation actively supports and facilitates participation and inclusion within it by Aboriginal children, young people and their families.

1.5    All of the organisation’s policies, procedures, systems and processes together create a culturally safe and inclusive environment and meet the needs of Aboriginal children, young people and their families.

Special Report on celebrating NAIDOC Week during the Term Break

NAIDOC week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is celebrated by all Australians and is a great opportunity to recognise and learn more about the history and culture of indigenous communities. 

NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced back to the Aboriginal rights movement, when on Australia Day 1938, protestors marched through the streets of Sydney to highlight the status and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Today, it is a week-long celebration held in July that consists of range of traditional and contemporary activities.

NAIDOC Week is an important event that helps build positive relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. It enables a deeper understanding of our differences and similarities. NAIDOC week is an opportunity for all Australians to eliminate bias and discrimination by reflecting and reconciling the wrongs of the past to facilitate hope and build a fairer future. Families are encouraged to join in and support young people in learning the significance of NAIDOC Week.

This Special Report offers suggestions on how families can celebrate NAIDOC Week together. We hope you take a moment to reflect on the information offered, and as always, we welcome your feedback. If this raises any concerns for you, a loved one or the wellbeing of your child, please seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report https://mackillopleongatha.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-celebrating-naidoc-week

Bullying Interventions at Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional College

The College is always trying to ensure that Child Safe Standards are being improved. Creating change involves using our students to Standard 3: Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.

Currently, the College is redeveloping the Anti-Bullying and Bullying Prevention Policy. This policy establishes the rights of all students to an environment free from fear, intimidation and harassment. All students have the right to feel safe and comfortable at school and to be treated with understanding and respect by others. Our Student Mission Team members will work with key wellbeing staff during Term Three to develop cognisance of how they can interact with their peers to prevent bullying.   

The prevention of and responses to bullying, inappropriate use of technology and disrespectful behaviour are more readily achieved through a whole school approach, focusing on creating and maintaining caring and supportive environments and a culture that promotes positive relationships and reflects Catholic Social Teaching. Bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, aggression and violence can adversely affect the wellbeing of our students and are therefore unacceptable.   

Bullying comes in many varieties. The College staff have specific responsibilities to respond to reports of bullying. Please peruse the list below, if you have any suggestions email jryan@mmcrc.catholic.edu.au.

Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional College will: 

• Use the Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviour Support (WSAPBS) to create a positive culture where bullying is not tolerated. 
• Continuously reinforce and act on their School Wide Expectations and consistently apply consequences.
• Document the response to any instance of bullying. 
• Expect and encourage students, staff, parents (and carers) to report bullying and cyberbullying to the class teacher, a member of the leadership team or directly to the principal. 
• Notify parents and carers when their child has been involved in bullying. 
• Principal to notify the Manager: Learning and Teaching, Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Ltd of any serious bullying incident. 
• Report to the police when a serious criminal offence has been identified. This is the principal’s responsibility, however, where mandated to do so, teachers will notify the principal and leadership team AND report to DFFH or the police as appropriate.  
• Teachers are to contact the Principal, John Freeman or the Deputy Principal Wellbeing, Staff and Students immediately when conduct such as stalking, destruction of property, threats to inflict serious injury and /or kill, physical and sexual assault, offensive behaviour, discrimination, cyberstalking, defamation, breach of privacy, hacking, sexting and creating or possessing and /or disseminating of child pornography are brought to their attention.    
• At Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional College, the WSAPBS Team leaders, Mr John Ryan and Mr Christopher Spencer will coordinate strategies for managing bullying behaviour, investigate and record complaints of bullying in a manner that respects the dignity and privacy of all involved. (See Bullying Reporting Tool which will be attached to all bullying incidents logged on SIMON).
• Bullying prevention strategies are implemented within Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional College on a continuous basis with a focus on teaching age-appropriate content, skills and strategies to empower staff, students and parents/carers to recognise issues and respond appropriately. 
• Information is regularly provided to parents/carers to raise awareness of bullying as a school community issue.  This is published via PAM, Newsletters and other electronic means of communication
• Utilise evidence-based responses and actions that focus on restoring and rebuilding positive relationships in instances where bullying has occurred. 
• Provide a copy of this policy on the school’s public website. (The new policy will be published very soon)  

For more useful information see the understanding bullying sheet in this newsletter.