Have you ever wondered how many interactions are happening in one location at one point in time?
I’ve written before about how powerful it can be when a large group goes silent, such as the full Optus Stadium at the ANZAC Day match. To have close to 60,000 people interacting with each other, to then go quiet is so special.
For spectators at footy matches there are written and unwritten rules to make it all work. There’s the unwritten rule that someone in a Dockers jersey at and Eagles home match will get a gentle heckling from the crowd – but we don’t need supports of the hometown teams to be separated from each other like in some overseas sporting comps.
There are written rules though about not tolerating anti-social behaviour. Heckles to umpires about needing eyes checked can’t escalate into threats and comments based in prejudice.
It might not be as large as an Eagles home crowd, but schools also have a phenomenal number of interactions between people every moment of every day. 1200 students interacting with 130 staff and several thousand parents and guardians through email or phone calls; the number of individual interactions happening every moment is huge.
To help us navigate all these interactions we’ve got codes of conduct which try to explain how we go about our interactions respectfully as well as some more explicit written regulations.
In the Student Code of Conduct we worked with student leaders to help them explain the way they wanted to interact at school. Students wrote that in order to feel accepted at school they wanted their peers to respect boundaries. We then have programs and lessons to help explore this in age appropriate ways.
Staff need to adhere to the CEWA Staff Code of Conduct which guides how to treat all members of the school community including on topics of respect, confidentiality, and supporting all members of Kolbe Catholic College.
CEWA have recently reviewed and launched the CEWA Parent and Carer Code of Conduct which is designed to promote respectful engagement in school communities. It’s worth reading through and if there’s an aspect of the code you’d like to clarify, please get in contact and we can have that conversation.
I really appreciate when parents get in contact with teachers to clarify what might be happening in a classroom or the yard. It’s great when we go in curious to understand what’s going on as there are so many moving parts during each day. Curiosity is a good way to try and help understand the whole picture. When we all work together, there’s such positive outcomes for our children.
High school can be a bit more removed for parents and carers than primary school. However, this term we’ve had many opportunities for some families to be involved. Grandparents Mass with our Year 8s, Year 10 families at expos and pathway counselling, Catholic Performing Arts Festival events, Academic Assembly, and Athletics Carnival. A fair few ways to be involved in the first two weeks of term!
The upcoming College production of Beauty and the Beast is a way to celebrate with the family for a fantastic outing. Best seats are now available at the 4.30pm sessions next week and the rehearsals have been excellent.
There’s a lot on in Term 3, and plenty of ways for the community to be involved and the different codes of conduct help create a safe and welcoming environment for all.