Leadership Passport

I am pleased to report that since the launch of the Leadership Passports at the beginning of this term, 34 students ranging from Year 5 to Year 11 have volunteered to begin their personal journey in leadership development. 28 of the 34 students are also from the Middle Years which is excellent!

These students now have a series of challenges they need to complete in order to develop a very specific set of leadership skills. Level 1 students must complete all of the following in order to Level Up, moving to Level 2 of their development:

Some of the Middle Years students are nearing the completion of their Level 1 booklets having completed tasks like:

• Assisting the Year 12 students serve at the Big Breaky on Mondays
• Participating in the College Musical – The Little Mermaid
• Attending key events such as Opening College Mass, Swimming Carnival, Cross Country, the Easter Liturgy, ANZAC Day march and their House Icon days.

If you child is interested in beginning their journey in leadership development, please have them contact me for a discussion and distribution of the Leadership Passport. All students are welcome.  

Attendance Matters

Every missed school day is a lost learning opportunity. It goes without saying, that non-attendance is also associated with a variety of poorer outcomes for students, both academically and socially.

The table below highlights the effects of absenteeism on students’ academic, socioeconomic, and health outcomes according to an Australian study (Hancock et al 2018).

 A New South Wales study, Tell Them From Me, which involved student feedback as part of the study, included a measure of truancy that indicated the extend to which students report about skipping classes, missing days at school, or arrive late for school or classes. A longitudinal analysis of the published data examined the impact of the students self-reported truancy in Year 7 on their NAPLAN achievement in Year 9.

Students of equal socio-economic status were matched and examined for prior academic performance. The study determined that the students who did not miss lessons in Year 7, on average, were 3 months ahead in their learning by Year 9.  

During the middle months of the year, it is not unusual to have a higher rate of absenteeism in the Middle Years. This is usually attributed to illness, and we can certainly see a higher rate of sick students staying home again right now. It is important to note though, how quickly minor non-attendance can add up and being to negatively impact a student’s schooling.

For instance, missing a single day per fortnight equates to 4 weeks across the school year. A whole month of schooling. At the completion of a student’s educational journey, this rate would equate to an entire school year missed. That is a lot of learning missed.

In 2022, the College introduced the Eligibility Criteria for Extra-Curricular events to help curb some problematic absenteeism and to reward those that demonstrate a continued commitment to the College and their learning. Criteria 1 specifically focuses on a student’s attendance rate and sets a minimum standard of 85%. That is, the student must have an attendance rate greater than 85% to be considered eligible for an extra-curricular activity. We understand that students will need to miss school days from time to time. Poor health is the primary reason for this but often there are some other family related matters that also result in a missed day here and there. However, Criteria 1 attempts to target the days  students take off when they simply don’t feel like it or would like to have a long week other than those generated by public holidays and pupil free days. These are the days that, like it or not, we need to the students to dig deep, demonstrate the Learning Dispositions, and get themselves to school so they do not negatively impact their learning. This is also and important life skill they need to develop. Good habits around school attendance will equate to good habits around work and employment in the future.   

Attendance really does matter and everyday counts.

Vaping - Unveil what you Inhale

In the news recently have been numerous articles relating to vaping and the trends of school age students engaging in this dangerous practice across Australia. Often, those involved make ill-informed statements like its not harmful or its better that smoking real cigarettes. These statements are not only inaccurate, they are dangerous in that they not only normalise the behaviour but significantly downplay the real risks associated with this practice. I have previously shared this document with families from our school, and with the recent new reports resurfacing, I thought it was time to once more share information pertaining to the real risks behind vaping.