With Term 2 coming to a close, there are a number of significant initiatives taking shape within the College. Each of these new ideas has been though a rigorous process of consideration. We have extensively reviewed research, community need and attempted to make our decisions as forward thinking as possible.
What appear on some levels to be small changes belie the complexity of meeting the needs of many families regarding access to information on their son. Ensuring that simple tasks like login to the College portal, booking Parent/Teacher/Student Interview times or accessing school reports, have been limited by the manner our administration software linked boys to a family unit. In the term break, the final upgrades to the College database will enable all families to have multiple accounts that are referenced to their son rather than having to maintain a shared account. Each parent, both mother and father, will receive an email with their new login credential during the term break, this will allow them to monitor the progress of their son through the learning management system in Seqta. This very powerful tool gives families access to ongoing reporting around assessment, homework, classwork and pastoral care contribution, both positive and areas that require attention.
Communication within a large community like Saints is complex. At our Extraordinary P & F meeting on Thursday 2 August, the College Leadership Team would like to open a forum for families regarding our research into student wellbeing, the partnership between the College and families and the now perennial issue of screen time, mobile phones and gaming.
- Phone addiction is real – it is linked to serious mental health
- A correlation between media activity and mental health issues
- Australian stats: 67% of all 12-year old children own a mobile phone
- Australian stats: 50% of all 15-year old children are sexting
- Australian stats: 91% of teens have a mobile phone
- Australian stats: 90% of 2-year old children have moderate mobile phone ability
- Australian stats: 24% of all teens go online between 9am and 3pm
- Link to depression and suicide
- Significant educational learning gains occurred with a reduction in mobile phone use
- Lower performing students were affected the most by mobile phone use
- London School of economics has recommended a total ban of mobile phones
- UK 2001 – no phone bans in schools
- UK 2007 – 50 % of schools banned phones
- UK 2012 – 98% of schools banned phones
- Total ban in France for students up to 15 years old
- 10 to 15 students in each Year Group at St Augustine’s College claim to feel lonely
Our priority is student safety, healthy relationships and positive learning. As an educator with a significant background in educational technology, we acknowledge that there are many valid educational uses of mobile phones and other electronic devices. However, the use of such devices during school times or during school activities must be carefully regulated and considered to prevent inappropriate use. One of the significant cultural changes over the last decade at the College has been the emphasis on student engagement in learning, development of positive relationships and healthy social interaction. We strongly believe that this engagement coupled with excellent teaching is one of the many facets that have helped students achieve increasingly strong academic outcomes. This engagement should never be compromised by inappropriate or unregulated use of mobile phones or other electronic devices. It has been interesting to quiz boys on how many text messages, prods, prompts and notifications occur in a 60‑minute period. In fact, recently an exercise was conducted at a northern beaches school where 28 phones were placed on desks at the front of the room, the volume on all phones was turned up and a count was kept. At close to 1,000 messages in an hour, it is safe to say that for many students this represents an impossible challenge to not be distracted and want to know what is happening. In exploring this, it was with some bemusement to see how many of the students had received a message from a family member in class time.
As many families would be aware, we have been working though the development of a long term strategic plan for facility renewal. This pivotal planning is to map our resource needs around educational facilities and match our exceptional practice with classrooms that are enablers of flexible, student centre learning where students are faced with learning challenges and the need to creatively solve problems. We would like to discuss the possibilities of staging some of this exciting development of our teaching and learning spaces.
I encourage families to RSVP to attend the Extraordinary P & F meeting on Thursday 2 August using this link: https://www.trybooking.com/VWSH
Rest in Peace
Your prayers are requested for:
- The Brennan family following the recent passing of Keith Sinfield, grandfather of Beau Brennan (Year 8).
- The Green family following the recent passing of Geoffrey Green (Class of 1965), brother of Edward Green (Class of 1971).
May the Lord welcome Keith and Geoffrey into his kingdom of peace.
Jonathan Byrne
Principal
William Findlay, College Prefect and Goold House Captain
As many are aware, the College’s Performing Arts faculty is undoubtedly one of the best among high schools in all of Sydney. In my time at the College, I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by some amazing music teachers and world class tutors which have shaped me and many other boys into extremely talented young musicians. Last Thursday night, the College hosted the ‘Night of Jazz’, an evening which showcased the Stage Bands and Jazz Ensembles the College has to offer. It was a great night, made better by hearing the immense progress some younger students have made in the past year since the previous ‘Night of Jazz’. Hearing the significant development of the musicianship in these younger students allowed me to reflect on my musical journey at the College.
After joining the College community in Year 5, I have been given so many opportunities, for which I am extremely grateful. I have performed at the Manly Jazz Festival countless times, participated in three College musicals and have performed in many eisteddfods and competitions. These opportunities have not only helped develop my abilities as a performer but have given me a significant degree of pride in my school, a virtue we in the Student Leadership Team are trying hard to promote within current students. The talent which is on show in the College’s Performing Arts faculty is overwhelming and a credit to the teachers and tutors involved. However, despite the enormous amount of talent that is showcased throughout the year, much still lays dormant in boys who have yet to immerse themselves in the co-curricular side of the arts within the College. It is to these boys and parents of these boys whom I reach out to in this article.
Music is a gift which brings so many great joy, not only through listening, but through performance. I urge anyone who has the ability to play an instrument or sing, to join a College ensemble, or even those who have never picked up an instrument before, to give it a crack. As Bill Evans once said, “When you play music, you discover a part of yourself you never knew existed.” Start the journey to self-discovery, become immersed in the beauty of music.
