Messages from the Student Wellbeing Team

Be safe, be happy, be healthy, be kind to yourself and one another….…this is the sign off that the Student Wellbeing (SWB) Team has often used in our communications with students throughout remote learning.

In this final newsletter for Term 3, we ask that you support us to continue to promote this message to your sons and daughters. To do this, we have shared below some of the ideas we have already communicated to the students, as well as including some new resources/ideas to add to your own “ideas bank” and practices.

Be safe

Being safe physically, mentally,  emotionally has perhaps become even more important during periods of lockdown and remote learning. 

• COVID 19 protocols to keep ourselves and others safe, media reports are a constant reminder to us all about what we are required to do. In my local fish and chip shop, I recently saw what I considered to be quite a striking a poster promoting the importance of wearing face masks. I found the poster online and more interesting to me than the poster, was the story behind it;  the City of L.A. (USA) teamed up with local artists to develop a range of posters freely available to download:  https://corona-virus.la/la-mask-print-project
• Online safety – a safety issue that as parents you are well and truly aware of and from what we hear from our interactions with families, you have a number of safeguards and monitoring procedures already in place to monitor your children's safe and responsible use of online sites/apps/platforms. 

Here are some resources that you may not have previously been aware of that you might want to view:

• Office of eSafety Commissioner – provides a range of information for young people, families, and educators about online safety and wellbeing
• Parent portal of Office of eSafety Commissioner – provides information and learning for parents/carers about online platforms
• Screen time for a healthy headspace – fact sheet for young people
• Our VUSC website has a whole section on eSafety, including information about how reports of cyber bullying can be made to The Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner:

       https://www.vusc.vic.edu.au/college/we-are-esmart/

• Safe emotional and mental health – our wellbeing.  A y12 student recently described wellbeing as….a place where you can go to if you are ever feeling down or have some problems you want to talk about. Wellbeing helps you by talking it out and giving suggestions on how to overcome challenges to improve your mental and physical health. We have also encouraged students to plan for, and monitor their wellbeing:

Feeling down, wanting to talk something through – some useful external contacts for families to access for young people to talk with someone include: 

• Headspace T; 99927 6222
• Victoria University Psychology Clinic 9919 2353
• Dr in Schools Program 0491 174 821 (call on Mondays and ask to speak with Jess); 
• Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
• Kids Helpline 1800 551 800
• Drummond Street Services (Brimbank) 9663 6733
• Parent Line 1300 301 300 

Be happy – depending on who we talk to, during remote learning/lockdown, there is it seems no formula for being happy that applies to us all. One of my very best friends is staying happy be making CDs of remixed, restructured and extended music tracks that he downloads and then sends the CDs as gifts to his friends. 

A few of the students SWB interact with, say that they are happy because they have more free time to read. We have encouraged students to access the Brimbank Library. Other students tell us that they are enjoying more time in the kitchen with their parents cooking, and others tell us that they are happy because they are getting to sleep in. SWB have been promoting ideas for the students about “being happy”, including:

• Love learning – some students are loving the experience of remote learning, others not so much. SWB have been speaking with students about intrinsic motivation – a love of learning that comes from within, engaging in an activity because you enjoy it and get personal satisfaction from it. Not for all students the easiest thing to do, when logging on to four lessons every day and at the same time, perhaps feeling overwhelmed by keeping on top of learning  and homework tasks. 

An immediate strategy we suggest, is to let their teachers know. Then, we often talk with the students about discovering, reflecting on and  planning to use  their learning strengths,  goal setting, and developing and maintaining a study schedule to discuss with their teachers. For some students, there is perhaps a sense of learning anxiety which together, teachers and families can support students with. 

During the school holidays, Brimbank Council have a number of free webinars that we have promoted with the students, to help re-ignite their passion for and curiosity about learning, 

• Viewing art that inspires happiness http://artpaintingartist.org/tag/happiness/
• Creating a Happiness Bag: Whenever a student may be feeling down or having a challenging time, a Happiness Bag is a wellbeing tool that can be used to help the student change focus, and boost a positive mindset. Here’s how you make one:

1. Gather as many magazines as you can find.
2. Sit down as a family.
3. Give each family member a box or bag labelled with their name.
4. Ask each person to cut out 10 things (quotes, words or pictures) that bring a smile to their face.
5. Have them place the chosen items in their bag.

Students could use images, words, a favourite song or even a funny YouTube clip to put in a virtual Bag of Happiness.

• Be healthy
• Youth Health and Wellbeing - Brimbank Youth: Register here for a free webinar on 17 September  https://brimbankyouth.com/youth-health-and-wellbeing/
• Sleep, Screen Time, Diet and Exercise – all reported to be the cornerstones of being healthy. Students may like to view the attached word doc and use a guide in recording and monitoring goals for their healthy behaviours.

• Be Kind to Yourself and  One Another

Here are some links/ideas that you might want to access; ideas about taking extra special care of yourself and others right now in particular. NB: Always check with your parents/carers before accessing/downloading any apps that are mentioned.

Over the past week, when I viewed these resources, what really resonated with me, was the word self in the term self-care. Reminded me of a famous saying …if it is to be, it is up to me….  made me realise that perhaps I’d not been as self-disciplined as I need to be,  in taking responsibility for taking care of me. 

https://au.reachout.com/articles/10-ways-to-take-care-of-yourself-during-coronavirus

https://www.orygen.org.au/About/Responding-to-the-COVID-19-outbreak/For-young-people-and-families/Self-care-during-the-COVID-19-outbreak

• How to Stay Positive During Corona Virus With a Positivity Journal

There’s no right way to create a positivity journal. You could journal in the morning or the evening, you could write things down throughout the day as, and when, a positive thought comes into your head.

You could write in a notebook, on your phone notes, record your voice, text yourself…

• Grounding this is a simple mental tool you can use at any given moment to become more relaxed.
  The basic idea behind “grounding” is that when you find yourself feeling stressed, worried, or overwhelmed about a situation you can’t control, you “ground” yourself into the present moment by observing your immediate surroundings. For example, one simple “grounding” technique is to look around and identify 5 objects in your environment. “Couch, dog, TV, book, laptop…” By doing this, you temporarily take your focus away from your worrisome thoughts and shift it to the present moment.
  Grounding helps to reduce negative thoughts by shifting your focus outside of your mind and “busy thoughts” and into your body and “raw sensations.”
  The attached word doc includes more examples of grounding activities. Be safe, be happy, be kind to yourself and one another – SWB

• A collation of Family Welllness Activities: Making the time for the important people in our lives and having positive relationships with friends and family is essential for mental wellbeing .

From the SWB Team - Gail, Harry and Mary