Wellbeing

A range of pastoral programs are provided at Marian Catholic College. These contribute to the social, personal and spiritual development of the students and includes Homeroom and Pastoral Meetings within the daily timetable.

Additional activities that occur outside the timetable are:

• Year 7 Camp
• Spirituality Days for Years 7-9
• Year 10 Social Justice Day
• Year 11 Retreat
• Year 12 Retreat

The role of the members of the Student Leadership Team is to represent the students, staff and families of the Marian Catholic learning community by their witness to the College Mission Statement, College Motto, and Gospel values that underpin education at Marian College.

The Student Leadership team headed by the College Captains and SRC Presidents lead a team of house, event and SRC year representatives and exercise a shared leadership of service to the College community. Together they work to build a strong and healthy community in which every student is accepted, valued and encouraged to be an engaged and active learner and where positive relationships are central to the shared experiences of the community.

They work closely with the College Senior Leadership, House Patrons and Year / KLA Leaders of Learning and College Staff in conjunction with the SRC, to build and strengthen all aspects of community life.

The Leadership structure outlined below represents the maximum number of student leaders in a given year. Essential criteria include the ability to lead their peers in an effective and positive manner whilst being a positive role model to students. Involvement in the school community, understanding and participation in service activities and a sense of school spirit are required qualities.

Year 12 Leadership positions:

• Executive Leaders - College Captain, College Vice-Captain, SRC Presidents (One boy and One girl for each position).
• House Leaders - Two leaders for each of the Four Houses.Event Leaders - 2 leaders for each of the following categories - Sport, Creative Arts, Mission, Learning.

Junior Leadership Positions:

• SRC Leaders - One boy and One Girl from each grade - Years 8-11.
• Junior House Leaders - two Year 9 students from each House.

The primary role of the Student Representative Council (SRC) is to represent the views and concerns of the students at Marian Catholic College, and to advocate for them, in raising their views and concerns. The SRC aims to build a strong, healthy student community based on co-operation, positive relationships, and the College Mission Statement, Motto, and Gospel values.

The SRC is a leadership team focused on the learning, pastoral, health and spiritual issues of relevance to the life of the students at Marian Catholic College. The SRC Representatives are responsible for communication with the students in their Year Groups and their respective Year Leaders of Learning, especially through the discussion of issues at Year Meetings. The SRC Representatives work as a team under the leadership of the SRC Presidents, and report through them to the College Senior Leadership. The SRC also works in conjunction with the College Captains, House / Year Leaders and Junior / Senior Event Leaders in promoting whole-school activities designed to build school spirit and strengthen relationships in the community.

A House system was introduced into the College to facilitate sporting competitions and to foster College spirit.

The Houses are named after prominent Australians who have achieved excellence and international recognition. They were also each chosen as good role models for our students, with an equal number of males and females who represented various fields of endeavour.

Each House not only has a crest, accompanying colour and floral emblem but also aligns with a Catholic Saint and a Catholic Value.

Students are allocated to House groups randomly.

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The Merit System is designed to allow all students the opportunity to have their academic effort, positive attitude toward uniform, co-curricular commitment and good behaviour recognised as being an integral part of the Marian Catholic College community.

Students are given merit codes for their efforts, abilities and service. Merit Codes are cumulative over a student’s entire time at Marian Catholic College. An accumulation of Merit Codes leads to achieving Bronze, Silver or Gold Awards. To strengthen identity and connection to houses, merit codes contribute to House Spirit points.

The Merit System promotes a greater public recognition of the student’s positive contribution to Marian Quality and encompasses our core values of Respect, Responsibility and Integrity.

Respect | Responsibility | Integrity

Merit Code	Merit Focus Areas
MA Merit for Academic Achievement	Outstanding achievement or improvement with a task or assignment; excellent results in a class test/assessment task.
MB Merit for Behaviour	Consistent outstanding behaviour or sustained effort to modify behaviour, e.g. through maintaining focus, speaking and listening politely, being punctual, including others in the group.
MC Merit for Class Work	Outstanding and/or consistent effort within class e.g. through contribution to group work and discussion, attentiveness, organisation of class materials, ability to work independently, consistent high standard of homework and classwork.
MS Merit for Service	Contribution to the life of the College and wider community e.g. through support of charities, involvement in social justice actions, contribution to school events such as Open Night, Marian Day, care and support for others, care of school environment, sustained involvement in co-curricular activities.
MU Merit for Uniform	Consistent wearing of the full school uniform according to the College Uniform Code.
MQ Merit for Quality	Showing pride in our College and in oneself and contributing to Marian Quality. For example – representing the College, demonstrating initiative, role modelling exemplary behaviours, striving for one’s personal best.

Receipt of 7 or more Gold Awards qualifies a student for a Marian Shield in special recognition for his/her efforts and achievements at the College. This Shield would be presented at the Year 12 Graduation Ceremony. The awarding of the Marian Shield is at the discretion of the Principal or delegate.

Internet safety and Cyber Bullying is taken very seriously at Marian Catholic College. Below are guidelines that are supported by Marian Catholic College and all schools throughout the Parramatta Diocese.

• Personal information stays personal
  children should not give out passwords, photos or personal details such as phone numbers and addresses to anyone online
  
  
• Information on the web is not always reliable
  discuss with children ways of assessing reliable information online
  
  
• Treat others on the net the same way you would like to be treated
  remind your children that cyber bullying has serious consequences both at a school and personal level, as well as the possibility of legal and criminal consequences
  
  
• Be aware of 'stranger danger'
  chat rooms pose a particular threat in this area and young web users should be warned of the dangers and advised not to answer messages that make them feel uncomfortable or seem improper, indecent, or threatening. Young people should also be advised not to arrange meetings with people met over the Internet without asking their parents first
  
  
• Discuss online experiences with a teacher or parent
  children should be encouraged to share their experiences both good and bad
  
  
• Report cyber bullying
  children and teenagers should be encouraged to speak with a teacher or parent if they see instances of cyber bullying, for example, other students filming an inappropriate incident on their mobile phone
  
  
• Be careful when downloading programs from the Internet
  teach your children how to use virus scan software to avoid viruses
  
  
• Hacking into computers is not a game
  it is a serious crime, as is downloading copyrighted material such as software, music, books, movies, TV and art from the internet.

Discuss with your child that your digital footprint stays online forever. Once something is put onto the Internet it is very difficult to remove. (Photos/Videos etc.)

Cyber bullying is just one of the dangers associated with new technologies, reinforcing the need to educate young people in responsible online behaviours.

For parents one of the most difficult aspects of cyber bullying and other dangers online is that they are often unaware of the risks and unsure of how the technology works. One of the best ways to keep your children safe online is to get involved and be aware - learn all you can about information and communication technologies and talk to your children about what they do online.

It is advisable to supervise the internet usage of young people. Once parents are aware of the online behaviour and habits of their children, it becomes easier to spot the signs that something may be wrong.

All Catholic schools in the Parramatta Diocese have strict policies and guidelines for dealing with bullying and inappropriate behaviour.

It is important to note that students will be given access to the College Network and will be monitored whilst using this network. In addition, the student and their associated devices will need to abide by the College’s and Diocesan Acceptable Use Policies. This involves you and your son/daughter discussing, then signing the College Acceptable Use Policy.

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