Wellbeing
K-12 Wellbeing
Congratulations to our House Leaders of 2025
Training Year 5 students to become Kindy Buddies
🌟 Our Year 5 students were mentored by our amazing House Leaders to help prepare them for a very special role—becoming Kindy Buddies! 🌟
With orientation days just around the corner, we’re excited to welcome our new Kindergarten students to our school family. Our Year 5s practiced important skills, learned about the responsibilities of being a supportive friend, and received guidance from our dedicated House Leaders, who led with enthusiasm and kindness.
Thank you to our House Leaders for being such inspiring role models and setting a great example of leadership! 💙
The Urgent Need to Support Youth Mental Health
| Teens and young adults are facing mental health challenges at a growing rate. It can be challenging to distinguish between developmentally normal behaviors and emotions and those that may be cause for concern. One in six Australian youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year. In fact, half of all mental health conditions begin by age 14 and 75% by age 24. |
| The most recent 2021 CDC’s Youth Risk Behavioral Data reported the numbers of youth that: |
Mental health issues in adolescence are more than feelings of sadness. It can impact many areas of a teen’s life. Youth with poor mental health may struggle with school and grades, decision making, and their health.
Mental health problems in young adults often go hand-in-hand with other health and behavioral risks like increased risk of drug use, committing or experiencing violence, and a higher chance of sexual behaviors that can lead to HIV, STDs, and unintended pregnancy.
| Why aren’t teens seeking help? |
| In May 2024, the Jed Foundation released a Research Report: Unraveling the Stigma: Exploring Barriers to Mental Health Support Among U.S. Teens. The research study examined teens (ages 13-17) to try to understand the role of stigma in discouraging seeking help. |
| Research Findings |
| While the stigma associated with mental health support has widely been blamed for the reluctance to reach out, bigger barriers exist. The top 5 barriers when talking about uncomfortable emotions with adults and friends were: |
Stigma related barriers including “I don’t want anyone to find out that I’m struggling” were ranked 8th for speaking with adults (43%) and 6th for speaking with friends (48%). With such little percentage change from #1 to #6 when speaking with friends, it’s clear that many factors are impacting youth at one time.
When asked where they would go for support in various situations, teens identified:
Supporting the support network of friends
In-real-life friends were identified about 40% of the time for various situations as the resource of choice for youth. We can help by empowering these friends with readily accessible evidence based tools. Students need to know how to get help both in and outside of school. Parents can direct teens to available resources. Here are some suggestions:
Ascent Tying Shoelace Educational Workshop Some of our Student House Leaders took time during their late start to assist our K-4 students in learning how to tie their shoe laces
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Talking about online risks with your kids
Some topics are hard to talk about, even with other adults. Discussing online safety and sexual abuse online with your child can be daunting and difficult. eSafety has published a suite of new resources to help guide conversations with your children about online safety.
- Read – Tips for talking to 0 to 12 year olds and 13 to 18 year olds about child sexual abuse online
- Watch – Videos on protecting children from child sexual abuse online
- Listen – eSafety staff speak to the Fathering Project podcast about online safety.
Having conversations early and often is important. Talking regularly and openly with children about what they’re doing online, how it makes them feel and who they’re connecting with is one of the most effective ways to help protect them.
Instagram introduces teen accounts
Instagram has introduced new rules for teenagers meaning children under 17 now automatically have their accounts set to private and can’t be messaged or tagged by people they don’t follow.
Some of the other changes include:
- Parents and carers can set daily time limits on Instagram use
- Teens get notified to leave the app after 60 minutes each day
- Parents and carers can see the accounts their children message and the content categories they view
- Hidden Words settings automatically hide unwanted comments and messages
The new Teen Accounts are a step in the right direction, but they still put the onus on parents and carers to understand parental supervision settings. Tech companies must take responsibility for safety on their platforms and services – the burden should never fall solely on the user. And that’s particularly true when it comes to younger users. Take the opportunity to have a conversation with the young people in your home about how they feel about the changes, and if they notice a difference to their online experience.
This Swipe Safe app was designed by ChildFund to teach children essential online safety skills through interactive, choose-your-own-adventure scenarios. It covers topics like managing online reputations, recognising scams, preventing cyberbullying and staying safe in online games. For parents and caregivers, it’s a valuable tool to empower their children to make safer choices online.
Access the resource here
Celebrating World Teachers' Day: A Heartfelt Gesture from Our Students
Last week, in celebration of World Teachers' Day, our students organised a thoughtful tribute to every staff member at the College. Each teacher received a personalised, handwritten card thoughtfully crafted by our students and proudly displayed in the playground. Throughout the day, students eagerly added their own messages of thanks and appreciation, choosing to recognise teachers who have made a difference in their lives.
The response was truly heartwarming. Almost every card became a canvas of gratitude, filled with comments and reflections on the positive impact our teachers have. The students' thoughtfulness even extended to decorating the envelopes with additional messages!
Here are a few photos of the cards displayed in our lunchroom, awaiting collection by the teachers
🎩 Hats off to our amazing teachers! Celebrating World Teachers' Day!
Year 9: It’s Time to Shine!
This term Year 9 have launched a new wellbeing initiative, focused on finishing strong and fine tuning the skills our Year 9 students already have developed. We kicked things off with a video, highlighting the wonderful and varied talents of the cohort, before challenging the students to decide how it is that they will shine as they conclude Year 9.
Parents, expect to see more positive emails coming home shortly…
Year 12 Mentor v Mentor
This week, our Year 12 students kicked off Round 1 of the highly anticipated Mentor vs. Mentor Sports Challenge, with dodgeball taking centre stage. The event was a great opportunity for students to let off some steam, engage in friendly competition, and build a stronger sense of community. It was fantastic to see students diving, dodging, and cheering each other on in an atmosphere of fun and enthusiasm. The camaraderie and sportsmanship displayed set the tone for what promises to be an exciting series of challenges ahead. Stay tuned for updates as the Mentor vs. Mentor competition continues!
