Dean of Students | Mr Damien Cuddihy

This week, the College organised a series of educational processes to assist Terrace students to gain an understanding of the College view towards bullying. I hope that this may have been a catalyst for some conversations to generate at home on the topic. If Anti-Bullying Week didn’t find its way to the dinner table, then I would like to give you a quick overview of some of the initiatives used by the College this week to raise awareness on the issue.

During Pastoral Care Groups, the College Anti-Bullying Statement was presented to the boys. The goal of this process was to ensure that the boys are aware of the options they have available to them if they are exposed to any aspect of bullying. I would like to draw your attention to one particular aspect of this statement concerning image based abuse: 

Image based abuse occurs when intimate, nude or sexual images are distributed without the consent of those pictured. This includes real, altered (eg photoshopped) and drawn pictures and videos. Image based abuse also includes threatening to send nude pictures of someone unless some demand is met by the victim. This is an ongoing area of concern for not only schools in Australia but in general society. 

On Tuesday’s assembly, a series of clear statements were made to ensure all students understand what the College expectations are in this general area. At this time, we clearly articulated the connection between the Edmund Rice Touchstones and the values that underpin our College. All of these are totally against the concept of bullying. On Thursday, all Houses held special assemblies drawing focus to the concept of supporting each other as a House community. The week culminates with an overt display of support for Anti-Bullying Week 2019 from the student body by wearing orange ties for the day. 

Last Friday night, the Years 10 and 12 cohorts supported the GPS Swimming team at Chandler in what was a fantastic evening. I would like to commend the Seniors for their leadership throughout the evening and also the energy provided by the boys from Waterford. Leading the 6x50m Open Freestyle relay from start to finish was a fabulous effort by Thomas Neill and the team, and a great way to finish the evening for all involved. This weekend draws our focus to the 2019 Head of the River at Wyaralong Dam. A reminder to all supporters that the uniform expectation is formal academic dress which includes the white shirt.