I wish to thank our parent community for supporting the increased safety measures we have put in place at the college over the last two weeks
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
— Proverbs 22:6
These changes have been under the new (14 August) NSW Public Health directives from Dr Kerry Chant. I continue to ask parents and other carers who are collecting children from the college to use the ‘Kiss and Ride’. If parents of Stage 3 to Stage 6 students can collect their children a little later than 3.20pm then the younger children can be collected more quickly each afternoon.
HSC Trials Continue
Our Year 12 students have now completed the first two weeks of their HSC trials. While their stress levels were elevated earlier in week 5 they have adapted quickly and are using this time to prepare for their finals. The feedback from these trials will certainly help them direct their attention to key areas within the curriculum. I wish to thank all the staff who continue to work tirelessly to provide support to our students during this time.
Northern Beaches Campus
The planning of our Northern Beaches Campus is continuing with internal fit-out design decisions completed and furniture being ordered in the coming weeks. The playground is also being designed at present and we will be sharing snippets of these designs when they have been confirmed. We are also running information sharing sessions at 42 Beach Street in Woolgoolga on Tuesday 1 September.
Please share with your friends and family if they are interested in this exciting project or enrolling their children in the new Northern Beaches Campus.
Thanks to our Parents’ and Friends’ Association
Our BDC P&F Association has supported the college efforts to provide more outdoor education resources for our students and early this term they donated over $8000 for a set of 30 4-person tents.
Tips to prevent cyber bullying and how to recognise the signs
This month The Fathering Channel are bringing you a special series on bullying and cyber bullying to assist all fathers and parents develop their skills and knowledge to support their child if the situation ever occurs.
Reconciliation Action Plan
We are continuing to revise the college RAP at present. If you would like to be involved please forward your name to the college secretary email address (secretary@bdc.nsw.edu.au). Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we will be conducting this process using technology instead of our usual face-to-face series of gatherings. At a recent Goori Group meeting with the secondary students, they shared their thoughts about racism in society and in particular the issue of stereotypes. Following this meeting, I stumbled across this resource from ReachOut.com - https://au.reachout.com/articles/how-taliah-pushes-against-indigenous-stereotypes-and-statistics
BLM in Schools
Recently, tens of thousands of Australians took part in protests calling for an end to indigenous deaths in custody. These protest marches included children and teens from our schools across the Coffs Coast. This worldwide social movement has raised a variety of questions in our schools about the role of protests in our democracy, the issues surrounding the trigger points for the Black Lives Matter demonstrations and the ongoing issues of racial inequality throughout Australia.
In this article, I will highlight discussions that have occurred within our school community and in particular with our secondary school Goori Group. Bishop Druitt College has two Goori Groups: a primary school group with 27 Aboriginal students and a secondary school group with 28 Aboriginal students.
The secondary students were asked why they marched or why they thought others marched in the recent demonstrations. The answers were extensive and included the following concepts:
- ongoing concerns regarding racism
- looking for social change on the indigenous over-representation in death in custody and incarceration
- to increase their political voice due to a feeling of social indifference
- to create a sense of solidarity with all people of colour but particularly in creating a sense of pride within aboriginal peoples.
- The students noted that while 'all lives matter' is important, it was, however, their responsibility to highlight the plight of the 'black lives matter' issues due to the disproportionate representation of the aboriginal peoples in prison and in the deaths in custody figures.
An Australian Bureau of Statistics report notes that 434 deaths have occurred since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and that our students were concerned that Indigenous deaths were disproportionately overrepresented at all levels of the justice system. Just 2.8% of the Australian population identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, but indigenous adults are 15 times more likely to be jailed than non-indigenous citizens and juveniles are 26 times more likely to be incarcerated.
The students told stories of being 'watched' or 'followed' as they entered local shops and felt profiled with a negative stereotype of being aboriginal. They listed positive adult role models in their community and wished that the general public would reset their views on what it means to be aboriginal.
The students did, however, note that through the Goori Group their confidence was growing about a positive future and that through focussed and determined educational pathways they could be positive role models to other students, both indigenous and non-indigenous, into the future. The students were also excited to voice their opinion and continue to work with the school and other community groups to build upon successes in the different spheres.
I encourage schools to watch, listen and learn from this moment because there is much wisdom in our school-aged youth who wish to fight for equality, justice and they want all peoples to be respected and not judged.
Moreover, many businesses and Australian sporting codes have issued statements and made declarations that they support Black Lives Matter, that they will do more in the fight for racial justice, and be more reflective about how to best support Indigenous students and all students of colour. This moment has made it comfortable for schools to say that racism is real and that they will stand up against it, but when the lights go down, will schools do the really heavy lifting to examine school curriculum, practices and policies that often exclude Aboriginal history, life and culture? I challenge us all to be better and to make it a priority for the betterment of our Aboriginal students. Our society will be richer for the effort.
Nick Johnstone
Principal