Assistant Principal -
Wellbeing

Mrs Mellissa Bell

A TERM FOCUSED ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENT:

Welcome back to term 2!

I have spent the past few days reflecting on what an amazing community we belong to. I was amazed to see how many of our students joined the school leaders at the ANZAC Day dawn service. As a member of staff it warmed my heart to see our students attend and engage in this service and show such respect and gratitude to those who have sacrificed so much for us to be able to have the life we have today. And then many of them also attended the march and the 11am service. But this is not the only time in the past few days that our students demonstrated their pride in being part of O’Connor. On Thursday we had about 25 students attend the Armidale Regional Council Morning Tea to launch Youth Week. Our students arrived at the event and very quickly moved around the room, talking with students from other schools, sharing morning tea and making plans to engage in a variety of activities that are on offer for young people. Watching our young people move about and show pride in who they are and who they represent is a true privilege in life.

This week marks the beginning of our Student Led Conferencing period for our stage 4 and 5 students We have shifted how we are running these conferences after reviewing the feedback from parents and students. This year conferences are held with subject teachers but are definitely driven by the student. We have asked students to come to these conferences prepared to talk about at least one work sample, but to also be ready to engage in a reflection of their efforts and applications in the learning environment. Week 4 is a time for year 11 students to engage in this process. We have also moved the conferencing period forward so that students are able to take feedback and put it into practice prior to the reporting period, providing them with an opportunity to make a positive impact.

Term 2 sees us in our winter uniforms. It is great to see so many students in the new jacket. Can we please work together to ensure students are wearing their winter uniform with pride. Sports uniform is only for days when there is a practical PE/Sport lesson and this is easy to identify on Compass as the classroom will be OVAL. Wearing the correct uniform has been an ongoing issue all year and we ask for your support in this. The Canterbury tracksuit pants are NOT part of our uniform. Senior students should wear the formal winter uniform unless they have SLR, and this is a very limited number of students. Our Year 12 students are able to wear their jersey on Fridays only.

Learning is our focus and supporting students in stage 6 is very challenging. How much homework/study should they be doing? How can I help them juggle the needs of school with casual work and social activities? On May 10 you have the opportunity to engage in a parent webinar on ‘How to help get (& Keep!) your child motivated’. This is being offered through Elevate Education whom we have engaged with to work with our year 10-12 students. Elevate Education works with our students, delivering high impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series you will learn how you can help better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school:  