Celebrating Harmony & Diversity
The College has just finished celebrating Harmony Week. An opportunity where the school can embrace the rich diversity within our community. A week like this at a school is important because it promotes inclusivity, diversity, and respect among students and staff. It encourages people from different backgrounds, cultures, and abilities to come together, celebrate what makes them unique, and recognise the value of understanding one another. This also aligns with our mission as a Catholic school and one of our Yr 10 RE classes (led by Ms Lauren Ori) organised and promoted the “represent your colours’ day last week with all funds raised going to Caritas.
I also extend my thanks to those staff and student leaders across the campuses embracing the concept and organising activities, displays and competitions. This Friday at the Mornington Library we are hosting a “Living Library” (thanks to Ms Jessie Young & Mrs Suzi Hyland). A Living Library is a unique and interactive concept where people, referred to as "books," share their personal experiences and stories with "readers," who are typically students or other participants. This setup aims to challenge stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination by fostering open dialogue and understanding.
An exciting opportunity to come from the College captains, eager to build positive intercampus relationships and embrace celebrating harmony is the art installation involving as many students as possible at each of the campuses. The above concept image (Thanks to Ms Christine Blake) will be introduced to each of the campuses next week by the College captain.
PAM – Student Digest (Building connection between school & home)
Padua College is introducing a new initiative called ‘Student Digest’ whereby a fortnightly email will be automatically generated and sent to PAM account holders. This will be a snapshot outlining your child's attendance, learning areas and commendations over the two weeks.
The digest will have 3 categories.
- Student Attendance
- Learning Areas
- Commendations
The information contained in this Digest is listed below.
This is a brief snapshot of what is currently available on the Parent Access Module (PAM).
It is envisaged this initiative will build greater, more regular communication between school and home; encourage greater accountability for attendance and learning areas and task dates and finally further enhance positive learning behaviours and relationships between students/staff and families. PAM – Student Digest is a snapshot of current student information which is emailed to parents on the regular basis.
There have been some glitches with the publication of these reports in term 1 however I can confirm that this has been fixed, and the latest one sent out in time for Progress Reporting. From here reports will be generated and sent to parents on each Day 10.
Uniform Competition
(Starting at the Winter Uniform Change over date 1st May)
As a way to reward and recognise those students wearing the correct uniform and uniform correctly, as a collective we will be running a Homeroom Uniform competition with prizes given to the homeroom on each campus with the most days with ALL students in the homeroom in the correct uniform
(All homerooms registering a date with the correct uniform this term will go into a draw for a second prize!)
Homeroom teachers, please access the Google link to register your dates your homeroom has been in the correct uniform.
Winners are announced and prizes are awarded on the last day of Term 2.
School TV – Special Report: Social Media & Comparison Culture
Young people today are growing up in a world where exposure to other people's lives is constant. Through social media and other platforms, they are regularly presented with curated highlights - from flawless holiday photos and academic milestones to the latest fashion trends and fitness achievements. This continuous stream of idealised content fuels what is known as comparison culture, where self-worth is often measured by how someone stacks up against others.
For children and adolescents, who are still figuring out who they are, this culture can be particularly damaging. Constantly comparing their appearance, achievements, or social standing to friends, influencers, and even strangers can lead to unrealistic expectations and a skewed sense of self-worth. This relentless need to measure up can contribute to feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, and anxiety - undermining both confidence and emotional wellbeing.
It's vital that parents and caregivers understand how deeply comparison culture can influence a child's self-perception and sense of value. Left unchecked, it can foster perfectionism and a dependence on external validation, where a 'like' or comment becomes the measure of their worth.
The good news is, families have a powerful role to play in helping young people navigate these challenges. This Special Report will help you empower your child to build the resilience and confidence needed to navigate today's comparison-driven world and embrace their own unique path.
Here is the link to your Special Report https://padua.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-social-media-comparison-culture-au
