Leader of Year 8 Wellbeing

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It is with great honour that I continue to be your child’s Leader of Wellbeing for Year 8. I hope your son or daughter has enjoyed their first couple of weeks and has settled into the term. My wish for the Year 8's this year is to simply do the best that they can do in all areas of schooling life and to build on friendships and lessons learnt as they navigated the changes of relationships in Year 7. I look forward to getting to know even more of you as the year continues. 

Year 8 is an exciting year! Your sons and daughters will be settling into the term and practicing the good habits that will help them to succeed this year and to prepare them for Year 9. This year will see Year 8 choose their electives for next year. It is important that students begin to ask questions of their teachers, challenge themselves to move out of their comfort zone and think about their future goals.  More information about subject selection will be passed on to parents and students in Term 2. 

Pastoral Care classes will continue to focus on developing organisational skills, building resilience and encouraging them to be involved in the many opportunities that are on offer. The Resilience Project will be implemented into the Pastoral program through Pastoral lessons and Roll Call. Students will continue to learn about Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness and Emotional Literacy to help build strategies to build resilience in students as they continue their school journey. Ultimately our aim is for all students to feel like they are a valuable individual of the community. 

Your child’s Pastoral Care teacher will play an important role in their development this year. The Pastoral Care teacher should be your first point of contact for any concerns regarding day to day matters by communicating through the College diary. The Year 8 Pastoral Care teachers for 2026 are:

8-1: Mr Lachlan Hillman

8-2: Mrs Courtney Fraser 

8-3: Mrs Josie Raftery

For subject specific concerns, please contact the relevant class teacher, and for any general or wellbeing concerns please contact the Instructional Leader of Wellbeing. Essential to your son or daughter’s development and success this year will be their organisation and perseverance. The College diary is a proven tool to assist students in becoming organised and will be used constantly both in Pastoral as well as in classes.

A reminder that Pastoral or roll call runs from 8:35am to 8:50am, and is an extremely important part of the day and should not be missed by any student. Our pastoral program is actively taught within this time period, which also helps to set up our students for the day ahead. The structure of Pastoral each morning is as follows:

• Manage Everything Monday: students will organise their emails, diaries and other administrative tasks for the week.
• DEAR Tuesday: I ask that every student brings in a book to read every Tuesday. Reading is an important skill that helps develop in students the ability to comprehend and interpret information. It is also very important for enjoyment and wellbeing. 
• Wellbeing Wednesday: Students will actively participate in learning about strategies that will help build resilience in their everyday lives. This will involve gratitude, empathy, mindfulness and emotional literacy. These activities will come from The Resilience Project
• No Pastoral Thursday: Period One begins at 8:35am
• Fun Friday: This will involve a number of activities which will foster fun and community bonding within the class. Activities will include trivia, physical activities such as dance, movement, games and puzzles.

The College organises many community events to assist in the whole development of our students. Many of these days build community spirit, which is a key element of a Lasallian Education. These events include swimming and sporting carnivals, Masses, Reflection days and Founder’s Day. It is the expectation that every student attends these events and any absence is accompanied by a medical certificate. Year 8 is an important time in your child’s education and we encourage all students to take up all opportunities the College has to offer. I look forward to a wonderful year ahead.