HEAD OF SECONDARY SCHOOL

Student wellbeing is at the fore of what we do here at the College. The current situation we find ourselves in is certainly one that represents difficulty for all members of our community. Heading back into lockdown and online learning is frustrating for us all and presents a struggle between managing personal work stressors with encouraging our students to engage in their online learning activities. On top of this, we have the challenge of managing Year 11 exams along with the uncertainty around HSC and IB exams.

The structure of our online program highlights our focus on supporting student wellbeing. The flexible way we have approached lessons and Google Meets is focused on allowing our students time to engage with their families, take a step away from the screen, and engage in other activities beneficial to supporting mental health and wellbeing. While challenging, times like these present us with opportunities to grow through reflection and to discover new skills about ourselves.

To support this flexibility, our Leaders of Wellbeing have been hard at work preparing engaging activities to support student wellbeing. Moving forward, students will be presented with a matrix of activities that will provide them with opportunities to engage and reflect upon their wellbeing. These activities are carefully selected to provide a diverse range of opportunities. We are also encouraging our students to take photos and contribute to a ‘newsletter’ based document in their homerooms. This document is designed to allow our students to share their experience and to see what others are doing during lockdown. It is our hope that we will be able to use these images to form a collage of what our students have done during lockdown.

I encourage everyone in the community to look at the matrix and take part in these activities with their children. Taking this time to make stronger connections will help us all to be better equipped to tackle these difficult circumstances.

Christopher Ingold | Head of Secondary School