At Ashdale SC, we have an exceptionally well-resourced Student Services Team, consisting of dedicated Year Coordinators for each year group and a Program Coordinator for Years 7 – 9 and Years 10- 12. All members of the Student Services Team are located in the one central location, Block 6, in the heart of the school. The Team focuses on attendance, behaviour, physical and emotional well-being, pastoral Care and successful academic and non-academic outcomes. Everything that takes place at Ashdale Secondary College is made possible thanks to the high level of support that our staff provide to our students daily.
The College demands high standards of behaviour (both in and out of the classroom) and high attendance rates, and we encourage all students to work to the best of their ability to Achieve a Positive Future.
Our approach to student well-being at Ashdale focuses on prevention and early intervention. To ensure mental health concerns are responded to effectively and promptly, the Student Services staff are trained in youth mental health first aid. Ashdale SC has trained psychologists or counsellors, referred to as the Specialist Care Team, available to provide individual support.
Student Wellbeing
Research reveals that for every 1,000 students, 250 suffer depression, 120 have initiated self-harm, and 12 have contemplated suicide; unfortunately, out of this number, only one in four will inform an adult. This generation of adolescents has adopted electronic social language, with their mode of communication being centred on Facebook, SMS and electronic social networks. Based on this evidence, adolescents would examine their situation online rather than face to face. Students are encouraged to seek support available within the College from Student Services, i.e., Year Coordinators, Student Support Coordinator, College Psychologist, Community Health Nurse and College staff.
- Wellness Resource – SchoolTV – SchoolTV is an ongoing resource available to our parents. Each edition will address a significant topic with expert interviews, fact sheets, parent quizzes, recommended apps, books and much more. SchoolTV aggregates information from many great resources, such as BeyondBlue and ReachOut. SchoolTV provides a single stream of independent factual information that saves parents time and confusion of searching online across multiple sites for information.
- Updating Medical Information – Parents must notify the College if there is a change in their child’s medical circumstances. By keeping the College informed, we can develop a medical plan and implement strategies to support your child while on campus. Informing staff of your child’s medical condition and having a streamlined response to a medical emergency can sometimes be the difference between life and death. If there has been a change, parents must contact the Front Office at 6207 1300.
- Cybersafety – In this world of social media and the transfer of electronic communication, the College is aware that cyberbullying may occur. The College is vigilant about bullying within the school and will act upon any situations that arise. To access our detailed ICT, Computer Technology and Internet Appropriate Use Policy and other College policies, please visit our Policies & Guidelines page on this website.
- Bike Safety – An excellent way for students to exercise daily is to ride their bikes to school. Health professionals support this form of exercise because people of all ages and physical abilities can participate. A non-negotiable of bike riding is the wearing of helmets. It is stipulated by law that wearing helmets is compulsory while riding bikes. Unfortunately, many of our students have not been wearing helmets while riding. Can parents ensure that students wear a helmet while riding their bikes to school? Apart from being a law, it is about safety and the fact that a helmet may save lives in case of an accident. The College will be policing the wearing of helmets. Students will not be allowed to ride their bikes home if they are not wearing a helmet. Parents will be required to come to school with a helmet. To avoid this scenario, parents ensure that their child abides by the Road Safety Act.
Community Health Nurse
Community Health Nurses are skilled in assessing adolescent health needs. They engage in health counselling with young people to identify issues, risks and protective factors, provide advice and brief intervention, assist with access and referral to other services, and provide follow-up care. Young people can drop into the Junior Student Services building or make appointments to discuss health and well-being issues. The services provided are free and confidential.
College Psychologist and Student Support Coordinator
The College has access to the School Psychology Service. Students may be referred to the service to address various school-based issues, including learning, behaviour, attendance and engagement, mental health and well-being. The College also has a Student Support Coordinator that supports students with a wide range of common issues young people face. Support from these services can be accessed through Student Services.
Pastoral Care
Pastoral Care focuses on the social and emotional well-being of your child. It is at the core of all our teaching and extra-curricular programs. When students are happy, their opportunities for learning increase and their performance improves. The pastoral care programs provided at the College teach the skills to prevent mental illness, support learning and cultivate well-being. Approaches to mental health and a child’s academic education are most effective when students, parents and the school community are taught the same common core of abilities and skills. As such, parents and staff can also access opportunities to learn the skills taught through these programs. The College offers a range of Pastoral Care initiatives.
Role of the Mentor Teacher
Mentor teachers form an integral role in pastoral care for students across the College. The importance of mentor time in providing an opportunity to disseminate vital information, general organisation and health and well-being checks cannot be underestimated. There are clear areas of responsibility outlined for staff in monitoring and managing their mentor group’s academic, social and emotional well-being.
Student Engagement
Ashdale SC has created an atmosphere where students are actively engaged in the curriculum and provided with exciting learning ways. They feel cared for by College staff and develop a sense of belonging to the College, where teachers know them well, build on their strengths and encourage them to persist with tasks until they succeed. Students are more likely to behave well in an environment where they feel respected and capable.
Successful behaviour management is acting to meet students’ needs rather than merely reacting when they misbehave.
We are committed to achieving the objectives of:
- Providing a positive classroom environment for all students,
- Promoting, delivering and ensuring respect and consideration for all members of the community,
- Providing future-focused programs and activities that utilise current best practice teaching and learning strategies,
- Exposing students to a variety of methods of learning,
- Discovering, enriching and promoting student achievement across all learning areas,
- Actively seeking opportunities for students to connect with and enhance the local community,
- Actively devising, fostering and celebrating school and community pride.
SmartRider – Public Transport
Parents/guardians should know that all students require a Student SmartRider to access concession travel on Transperth, bus, rail and ferry services, and Transwa country road and rail services.
To issue the cards in the first instance, the Public Transport Authority (PTA) requires that parents/guardians give permission for the College to provide student details to the PTA to register the student for concession travel and enable the Student SmartRider to be produced. Only students, who provide parent/caregiver permission to release these details, will be issued a card through the College. The information that will be released is the student’s name, photo, date of birth, address and Curriculum Council number.
The PTA must comply with the privacy requirements for the public sector and, as such, will only be using the information provided by the College for the issuance of the Student SmartRider concession card.
- If you wish your child to be issued with a Student SmartRider free of charge through the College, you should tick the student consent and permissions form located within the enrolment form.
- If the College does not receive the signed permission slip, your child’s student information will not be released to the PTA, and your student will not be issued with a Student SmartRider.
- If you do not wish your child to be issued a SmartRider through this process but still require a Student SmartRider concession card, you will need to go to a Transperth Information Office and apply for one. You will need to provide proof that your child is enrolled at a school and pay a card fee of $5.00 for the purchase of the card if you wish to apply for a SmartRider in this way.
LOST, DAMAGED OR STOLEN CARD REPLACEMENT
A student can request a replacement card if theirs is lost, damaged or stolen through the College Administration Office. The PTA charges a $5.00 fee for replacement cards. This fee needs to be paid to the office when ordering a replacement.
