Dean of Students | Mr Damien Fall

Congratulations to Mahoney House on Monday’s Cross Country victory.

As with all House events, it was a wonderful day of fun, spirited competition, dampened only slightly by a downpour at the end of the day. Many thanks to the Sport Office for their efforts organising the day and to our pastoral team for their assistance in ensuring things ran smoothly. Monday started with an Anzac Liturgy and I applaud our students for the way they recognised the significance of this occasion. There was a great spirit of respect and reverence attached to this event and it is a credit to our young men. I trust all of our families were able to use the Anzac Day holiday in a positive way.

In recent weeks, there has been a growing wave of interest in a Netflix series known as 13 Reasons Why. The series deals with a number of sensitive issues including teenage suicide and all reports are that it contains some graphic content that is not suitable for adolescents to view. I am unsure whether the series has become popular among our students, but I would advise parents to be armed with information about it in case it becomes a topic of conversation at home. I have included some links below that will be of assistance with this topic. The first two are from Youth Mental Health Foundation, Headspace, articulating their concerns about the program and the second is from Mental Health First Aid Australia:

http://junkee.com/headspace-number-distressed-teenagers-contacting-watching-13-reasons/102315

Resources for Adults and Young People Watching Netflix TV Show "13 Reasons Why "

The following link may also be useful for parents of students who have already watched the series:

https://www.headspace.org.au/assets/School-Support/How-to-talk-about-suicide-with-young-people.pdf

The digital age ensures that trends spread quickly among adolescents, so it is best that we are proactive in making parents aware of this series.

This week, students from Years 10 – 12 will attend a presentation by Mr Paul Dillon from DARTA, Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia. Paul is Australia’s leading presenter on this topic and he bases his work around the most recent research. The topics are highly relevant to boys of this age and are presented on a three year cycle, with new topics being covered across each of the three years.

I have written to families of Year 7 students about our Mother/Son evening on 15 May, to be facilitated by Mr Bill Jennings, director of a company known as Time & Space. Feedback from last year’s event was very positive and I look forward to strong attendance. Please feel free to be in contact if you did not receive any information or if you have questions.

A reminder to parents and guardians that classes will again conclude at 12.51pm this Wednesday to allow staff and students to attend the Parent | Teacher | Student interviews.

A final reminder that winter uniform commences on Tuesday of next week (2 May). As previously communicated, this means all students must wear their blazer to and from school every day. Long trousers are compulsory for students in Years 11 and 12, while younger students are welcome to wear either shorts or long trousers. The weather has started to cool down just at the right time.