Over the last fortnight, we have introduced the Carey Sports Values posters around our Bulleen campus. Designed by the very talented Felix Lam from the Carey Community Engagement team, the posters display the message of Care, Respect and Growth in the sporting context at Carey. These values are fundamental to all we do at Carey and are especially apparent when our students represent the school at APS sport.
While the vast majority of Carey students uphold these values and ‘play the game’ in the right spirit, there is a growing group of students who have damaged the School’s reputation of late due to their poor behaviour at Saturday sport. Abusive language, disputing umpiring decisions, overly aggressive and, in some cases, violent behaviour is prevalent now more than it has been in my 19 years as Head of Sport.
The 11 APS Heads met last week, and they too share our concerns regarding poor behaviour at sport. It is not just a Carey thing but a view that is spread across all APS schools. It has become clear that some students see the sporting field as an opportunity to behave badly when the opposite should be the case. The Heads agreed that the ‘temperature’ has risen of late in some sports and as a result they are asking coaches and staff to act swiftly to prevent any further occurrences for the remainder of the winter season.
Thankfully, I have had the great pleasure of seeing many of our fabulous teams playing with great enthusiasm, skill and pride throughout the winter season. These teams continue to be the custodians of our message of Care, Respect and Growth, may this prevail across the entire student cohort.
Paul Jepson
Head of Sport
