News

Care for Children in the Mornings Before School
I remind families that the College commences its yard duty supervision of students at 8:20am each morning. I ask that students arrive at school as close as possible to this time to ensure the safety and supervision of the children can be guaranteed.  Arrival at school considerably earlier than this time potentially places the safety of your children at risk.

I also inform families that Sarah Seebohm and her committed Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) team offer a fun, caring and professional before and after school program for our community. The OSHC offers before school care that is only $10.00 per child before the rebate is factored into the cost. OSHC before school care offers parents peace of mind in the morning, given that the school grounds are not formally supervised until 8:20am. 

For further information and bookings contact Aleisha or Sarah on 8724 4633 or email oshc@tenison.catholic.edu.au. You can also visit the OSHC page on our Tenison Woods College website.

Plebiscite on Marriage
This week during the parish masses, Fr Dean or Fr Michael read Archbishop Philip’s letter on the marriage plebiscite, offering also a reflection on the understanding of the Catholic Church. The Archbishop’s letter is available on the Adelaide Archdiocesan website www.adelaide.catholic.org.au with links to other resources. The Australian Catholic magazine printed an article from Fr Frank Brennan SJ which clearly explains the significance of marriage as one of the seven Catholic Sacraments of the church and answers questions some people may have in relation to single sex marriage. You can access the article here: https://australiancatholics.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50156#.WZrnG4VOL9D 

I encourage our community members to consider the above resources to assist with their reflections on this issue.

Carpark Care
I remind families during these days of challenging weather conditions to drive at no more than 15kmh while on the College grounds. I also ask that parents accompany young students to and from the council property adjacent to the College’s Shepherdson Road, across the poplars lined driveway. I ask this in an attempt to prevent any potential accidents which could occur to inexperienced and enthusiastic children, who make their own way from the school grounds to cars parked on the council property.

Tenison Woods College Reunion – A great deal to celebrate!
Friends of Tenison Woods College; past scholars since the inception of Marist Agricultural College or the Convent of Mercy, parents of former scholars, past staff members, past volunteers, in fact anyone who is proud to be or have been associated with Catholic education in Mount Gambier; are invited to our reunion on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 October, 2017. On the Saturday evening, we will also present our 2017 Shining Lights.  Tickets go on sale this week. Follow our Facebook page for all the information! More details to follow in the coming weeks, but for now lock this date in your diary, let your old school friends know and get along – you won’t be disappointed!

Staff Formation Day – 8 September
Our Staff Formation Day will be held in Mount Gambier on Friday 8 September 2017. The focus of the day will be to spend some time immersed in the story of Catholic education in Mount Gambier, a place imbued with the charisms of Josephite, Mercy and Marist charisms as well as the passion of committed Catholic educators.

The day will provide us with the opportunity to learn more about the history and the contemporary connections of the story to the work we do. It is anticipated that the day will help us appreciate upon whose shoulders we stand and as a result the nature of our call to service for our community.

Respect, Dignity and Care in an Online World
The opportunities and pervasiveness of the online world underlined for me the importance of our College ‘village’ in caring for the safety of our children, adolescents and emerging adults.

In this space I turn to the work of Susan McLean, Australia’s foremost authority in cyber safety, who encourages us to realise that:

Respect and responsibility are to be used with consistency in the eWorld.
Sending mixed messages about cyber safety is not life giving to children and confuses them.
You can't have complacency online.
Cyberspace is a public space and there is no such thing as private online.
Nothing can be totally deleted – it always remains there in cyberspace.
You are never anonymous online - everything can be traced, in that you always leave a digital footprint and your postings and comments can be found years later.
Passwords are the key to your online security and must never be shared and should be changed every three months.
Anyone can be anyone online – caution is critical.
There is no such thing as a safe website or application.

Unfortunately, 30% of Australian teens report being cyber bullied and Susan identifies “a new mean” through the online medium which is occurring at a younger age. She also critiques the role of popular television shows which did not portray the real consequences to such situations of sexting and risky cyber behaviours. It is also apparent that cyber safety issues often touched the students you least expected.

Susan McLean is clear about the significant dangers in relation to online grooming and encourages us to think of an online friend as actually a stranger, with the associated dangers. She clarifies the nuance of knowing the person as distinct from knowing of the person, encouraging children and adolescents to be choosey in relation to friends.

We understand that all internet enabled devices (iPad, phone, iPod, Xbox) are best placed in a common area of the house and not in the bedroom; or at least turning the internet off when a child was in the bedroom with the device. Susan speaks of the importance of passive supervision in well trafficked areas of the house.

Just as with the opportunities of our globally connected ‘real world,’ I encourage parents and teachers to embrace the cyberspace, understand the salient issues, acknowledge positives and negatives, as well as be proactive and consistent so that our children and adolescents are afforded the real and actual life-giving safety that we hope. 

David Mezinec | Principal 

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