DEPUTY PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

College Community Expectations

At St Mary MacKillop College we respect ourselves, others and our learning environment. This is the fourth of our College Community Expectations. The first part, respect others, is something that is very familiar for our students. Respecting others means listening, accepting, welcoming, considering and speaking well of others. It means we act deliberately in a positive way around, towards and for others. Most of us have a pretty good idea of what respecting others means. We might not however have considered what respecting ourselves means and why it is important. Self respect is when we think of ourselves as being essentially good and worthy of being treated well. One way that we demonstrate self respect is by not tolerating poor or unjust behaviour towards us. Another way is to do our best, to use the talents and skills that we have to make the most of an opportunity. It means presenting ourselves well and being organised. Showing self respect is also about being true to ourselves and being able to be the person we are created to be. If we respect others and we respect ourselves it falls naturally into place that we would respect the learning environment. Really, the fundamental reason that we are all here at this school is for teaching and learning and that makes the learning environment pivotal. If we do not respect the learning environment, it can seriously detract not only from our own learning but also from the learning of people around us and quite simply, we do not have that right. Respecting the learning environment is about making sure that our behaviour and our choices do not reduce the learning of others. Another way to look at it is that it is about contributing to the learning by respectful discussion, caring for resources and encouraging each other. All of our College Community Expectations are about being in community, being with others. Upholding the College Community Expectations means we foster a more caring and just community that upholds everyone’s dignity.  

Mobile Phones at School

We are currently seeing a rise in the misuse of phones at school. Our expectation has always been that students should not be using phones at school. If phones are brought to school the encouragement has been that they be locked in lockers during the day. If they are not, they should be placed on the teachers desk or mobile phone basket whilst in the classroom learning environment. Staff also strongly discourage the use of phones in the yard.

It is disappointing to see students not complying with this expectation. Over the last week some of our students have featured in viral videos on Snap Maps. Essentially some students are posting photos of themselves and others, some without permission and with the hashtag #callmyphone. This is then tagged to the school location. Whilst this is not illegal it is very disappointing that students are representing our school with such disrespect. This is a public Snap Map and some members of our community, both staff and students, have been photographed without their permission. This action conflicts with our school values of dignity and respect. Hopefully the novelty has worn off. 

We are asking that parents too, support us in our efforts to minimise negative impacts of phones at school by not texting or calling their child during classes. If there is a need to contact your child, please contact the Front Office and arrangements will be made. 

Extra Curricular Activities

Despite being a relatively small school in a rural setting, our students are able to engage in a wide range of activities. Much credit is due to staff who enthusiastically seek out new learning experiences for our community. In the first four weeks of school there will be students at our school doing some, or perhaps all, of the following activities - Reflection Day for Year 7, 8 and 9, Year 9 Belonging Program, helping out with the Primary Schools Cross Country, visiting the Town Library to read in Italian, laying a wreath at the ANZAC Day Service, completing work placement, battling Medieval Knights, cooking waffles for their Small Business, playing Golf or attending the Year 12 Formal. All of these experiences are carefully planned in order to enhance student learning and experience of community. Even though some of these might be considered to be more ‘fun’ than class time, they are also learning opportunities. It is really important that students involve themselves fully in these activities.  Not only are they enjoyable but the activities are all planned to benefit student outcomes. Next week we have two Reflection Days and Winter Sports. I would like to remind students that these are not ‘optional’ days, they are compulsory school days and all students should be attending. 

Some Words of Gratitude

I recently attended The Age Schools Summit which was facilitated to engage educational stakeholders from across Victoria in discussion about the challenges faced by students and teachers, to share stories of resilience and innovation and to be inspired by the future of education in Victoria. One of the main points of discussion was the response of schools to COVID 19 restrictions. I was reminded again of how well our staff, students and families responded to support each other and to bolster our community. I am very thankful for this and as a school we owe much gratitude to our families for their support.