McKinnonNEWS

ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS' REPORT

PARENT-TEACHER-STUDENT CONFERENCES

Thank you to all the families who joined these online conversations on Monday. Our second day of interviews will take place on Thursday 24 April (first week back next term). Over 12,000 interviews in total have been booked which is an impressive number and illustrates our community’s commitment to education and improving student learning. 

 

A reminder to parents that McKinnon Secondary College undertakes continuous reporting - this means that assessment feedback (i.e. results and comments) is always available on Compass Learning Tasks.

UNIFORM

All students should be wearing full school uniform every day. During Terms 2 and 3, this includes wearing the College blazers to and from school.  Please note the following reminders:

  • Footwear: Black leather lace-up school shoes (low heels, no buckles and not ‘runner/sneaker’ type)

  • General Appearance:

    • Hair styles must not be extreme and colours must be natural; long hair should be tied back;

    • Jewellery should not be obvious or extreme; if students have parental permission to wear a nose piercing, this must be a single stud, not a sleeper; ear sleepers/studs must be small and unobtrusive;

    • Cosmetics and make-up should not be obvious/excessive;

    • No nail polish or fake nails;

    • ​Students must be cleanly shaven.

If additional or new uniform items are required, our supplier is Bob Stewart, located on Centre Rd in Bentleigh. Information about pricing and ordering can be found on the Bob Stewart website.  Thank you to all families for your continued support of our uniform policy.

SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE ONLINE PRESENCE

We always expect students to behave appropriately when online. Recently we have been informed of incidents where individuals have used social networking sites such as Instagram to post offensive and harmful material. 

 

Please discuss with your child their online presence, including the risks associated with creating online 'friendships' with individuals they don't know in person. In addition, creating an online presence/profile that permits anonymous postings is extremely risky and should be strongly discouraged. We have also been advised that a number of students are communicating online using Discord - this is a platform that many parents may not be aware of.  

 

Again, please remind your child about the importance of communicating in a respectful and positive way when online. Whilst we recognise that online interaction is a big part of students' lives, we want to ensure they are also safe and responsible users of such technology.  Online harassment can not only cause great damage to students' self-esteem, it is unlawful. 

 

For further support in this matter please refer to the school’s advice around Cyber Safety Information for Parents

EAST CAMPUS - STUDENT SAFETY BEFORE/AFTER SCHOOL

Student safety is paramount, and we wanted to provide some important reminders to families about accessing the East Campus before and after school.  

 

1. Students crossing roads

It is essential that students cross the major roads at the pedestrian/traffic lights. We continue to get feedback from the local community about students crossing East Boundary Rd and North Rd at the wrong locations. With increased traffic in the area, this creates very dangerous situations (which we want to avoid!). 

 

 2. Students riding bikes

We continue to get reports of students riding dangerously when travelling to and from school.  This includes not wearing helmets, riding erratically, and even riding in the opposite direction to the flow of traffic. We ask parents to please speak to their children about riding safely and following all road rules. 

 

3. Students catching the 626 public bus

The 626 public bus that runs between the campuses is operated by CDC Melbourne via PTV and not the College. We ensure that two staff members are always on yard duty in the afternoons to manage the large number of students that wish to catch the bus.  Unfortunately, not all students are able to fit on the first service and will have to wait for the two subsequent services. We constantly remind students to listen to the staff instructions and line up in an orderly manner with safety our primary concern.

 

4. Students walking through the industrial area near the school

Please remind your child to not enter/leave the school through the industrial area located to the north of the campus grounds. There is a lot of traffic involving trucks and forklifts, as well as a lack of pedestrian footpaths. Moreover, many businesses in this area have been concerned by students walking through the industrial park as a way to access North Rd. If your child needs to head towards North Rd, please get them to walk down East Boundary Rd, or Dromana Ave (which is accessed via Marlborough Park). 

 

5. Parents parking on South Drive outside the school

Unfortunately, there is limited parking directly outside the school. As always, we encourage students to walk or ride to school as this substantially reduces traffic around the East Campus. If you need to pick your child up after school, please ensure you are not waiting on the bridge on South Drive directly opposite the campus.  We have noticed that cars are lining up over the bridge as they cannot get a car park.  This, however, is problematic because local businesses use this road frequently and it is very dangerous to overtake cars on a two-lane bridge.  

 

We realise the traffic situation around the East Campus provides some challenges, but we want to ensure students can arrive and depart school in a safe environment.