At St Brigid’s our aim is to continually raise the bar for our students and set high standards for all of them. Having high expectations of them at school will lead to an easier transition into life after St Brigid’s and provide them with a solid foundation to enter the world of work. Having taught in high schools for many years now, I am encouraged each time I run into old students of mine who are grateful that we held them to high account for their learning, their behaviour and their dress. Whilst many of them didn’t realise it at the time, they were developing discipline and good habits that would inevitably serve them well in the future. What seemed to them to be frustrating at the time such as abiding by a uniform standard at school became a very easy transition to work where appropriate dress is still a common expectation. Having the self-discipline to complete homework, prepare for the day ahead and persist through challenges translated in later life to young adults who are independent, reliable and sought after by employers.
It is an appropriate time now to raise our expectations of your children in a number of areas as we strive to develop in them the skills and attitudes required to be successful here at school and in the wider world beyond. Some of these expectations are outlined below –
- Our College is relatively young in real terms but already we are starting to show the signs of wear and tear. Most notably is the amount of chewing gum that can be found on stairwells, paths, carpeted areas, on the basketball court, under desks, etc. Quite frankly, its not good enough and it needs to be addressed. Chewing gum has always been banned at St Brigid’s but the message falls on deaf ears for many of our students. Moving forward, any student found to be chewing gum at school will be placed on an immediate Break 2 detention. It would be greatly appreciated if all parents could monitor this with their children as well.
- It is becoming increasingly apparent that a number of students representing the College are electing to wear clothing outside of our College uniform. This is particularly true of our sporting teams where a number of students arrive in different jumpers, different tracksuits, the wrong bag, incorrect shoes, etc. Its an honour to represent the College at any level and its important that students dress appropriately on these occasions. Students representing the College who arrive in incorrect uniform will lose the opportunity to represent St Brigid’s on that day, they will remain at school and serve a Break 2 detention.
- It is of the utmost importance to us that students chosen to represent the College are excellent ambassadors of St Brigid’s. They need to uphold the College values and be accountable for their actions. Commencing in Semester 2, students who are suspended will be ineligible to represent the College in that calendar year. We appreciate that young people will make mistakes from time to time, all students will have the opportunity to trial again for school teams in the following year.
I have explained these expectations to the students and I have no doubt that most will rise to meet them. I will be thrilled if we have no need to implement any of these consequences. We want the best for your children and just like you do as parents, at times that means we need to issue them with tough love to ensure we set them up for success in the future. There will be the inevitable bumps in the road but if we work together, I know that these kids are capable of achieving great things.
