Principal's News
What we want for our students, more than anything else, is that they flourish.
To flourish means more than simply succeeding; it is to grow and develop emotionally, socially and psychologically so that they get to live a great life. A life in which they have the confidence to seize the moment and make the most of all the opportunities that may come their way. A life in which they make deep connections with others, they are supportive partners and parents and that they give back to their communities and make a difference with a sense of achievement.
We need our students to be strong and resilient so that they can overcome the many obstacles that life may put in their way.
This may seem like a humble aspiration, but it is something that we know is not an inevitable outcome for our young people; it is something that we need to fight for.
We need our students to value themselves and see their worth as human beings in a world of social media clicks and the pressure of likes and dislikes. We need our students to have the strength to challenge toxic language, behaviours and attitudes that seek to demean others for their gender, ethnicity or beliefs, so that Ballarat High School is a safe space for all.
There are conflicting opinions as to whether it is harder for teenagers in high school than in the past, but the data does not lie. The number of adolescents reporting poor mental health has significantly increased in recent years.
In 2021, more than 4 in 10 (42%) students felt persistently sad or hopeless and nearly one-third (29%) experienced poor mental health. This data has not decreased in the last few years, despite schools and society focusing and resourcing more on student mental health and wellbeing.
As a community, we can see this within our students in many incremental ways and it is a challenge we must face together. However, the data also tells us that there are things that we can do to address our concerns. Building strong bonds and connecting to youth can protect their mental health. How we do this is by providing our students with a shared language and strategies to help them deal with the challenges that they face.
Ballarat High School is committed to supporting our students and our families to acknowledge their struggle and to provide a way forward when times are hard. The Ballarat wide mental health training provided within the Live4Life program for Year 8 and 10 students aims to address elements of this and we are working on providing support for each year level to meet them at their emotional point of need. We will work with them to ensure that they know that we care and understand what they are going through and that we have not given up hope; that we will help them through. We see and hear their struggles and we will support them. And importantly, we know that we need to support our families, so that we can work together when times are challenging.
On our website landing page, there are contact details for families to access for support (Kids Helpline, Headspace and Lifeline), but if there is more that we can do to signpost services, or provide mental health education, then we will. There are no easy answers, but I know we can work together.
School staff and families can create protective relationships with students and help them grow into healthy adulthood and we can secure the conditions to help them flourish.
If you have any areas of support that you feel would benefit our families, please contact me via the following email address ballarat.hs@education.vic.gov.au.
It does take a community to raise a child, but it needs to be a community that supports each other every step of the way, especially when one of our community falters. This has to be the commitment of the Ballarat High School community.
Stephan Fields
Principal