Positive Futures News
What is the EDSC Positive Futures program?
Positive Education brings together the science of positive psychology with best-practice teaching.
The school’s journey with Positive Education began in 2012 with Positive Education focuses and values implemented across each year level and over time has evolved into the whole school approach launched in 2020.
Our Positive Futures program has some very clear goals:
- We want to improve student quality of life and their engagement with others, including with their teachers
- We seek to develop students in a more holistic way, with a stronger focus on wellbeing
There are six tenets of Positive Psychology that are embedded into our model:
Positive Health – Positive Self
Developing knowledge, understanding and skills to promote health and well – being.
Positive Relationships
Nurturing positive relationships based on respect.
Accomplishment
Generating hope and optimism through the accomplishment of personal and community goals
Positive Emotion
Building and experiencing positive emotion.
Meaning
Believing in serving something greater than ourselves.
Positive Engagement
Developing critical thinkers by promoting challenge, curiosity and creativity.
More resources and information can be found here:
https://www.eastdonsc.vic.edu.au/wellbeing-engagement-positive-futures
Term 3 update
Positive Change Projects
Congratulations to 7I who ran a successful fundraising activity this week for the Royal Children’s Hospital selling sour straps and sour worms. They even managed to get some of our visiting Year 5 students purchasing some sweet treats.
Also, Ms Pham and Mr Easton’s group will be running a teacher’s fashion parade first week of Term 4 to support Fashion Revolution Week. We look forward to seeing the wonderful photos from this event.
11D Fundraiser
Last week as part of their Positive Futures impact project 11D students held a fundraiser where students were asked to guess how many jellybeans were in the jar – which was quite an impressive 859.
Congratulations to our winners – 1st Gary Z, 2nd Claire L and 3rd Aristo N. I hope they enjoy their sweet treats.
The funds raised will go to RUOK? Day.
Well done to the students and Ms Nicola Ritchie for the coordination of this event.
Term 3 Week 10
Focus – Accomplishment
Due to Week 9 being Year 8 Camp Week we ran a session in the last week of term on Accomplishment. It is a time to reflect on our successes of Term 3 and looking forward to Term 4 and our goals for this period of the year. Students have written letters to themselves about what 2023 may look like for them, and these will be distributed to them this time next year.
Next Term we will only have a small number of sessions but we start off with the Year 7s organising some fun activities for the Year 12s to participate in before they begin their exams. Also, later in the term when our 2023 Year 7 students visit they will be involved in their first Positive Futures Session.
Positive Futures Book of the Week
Jacqueline Woodson and Rafael Lopez's highly anticipated companion to their #1 New York Times bestseller The Day You Begin illuminates the power in each of us to face challenges with confidence.
On a dreary, stuck-inside kind of day, a brother and sister heed their grandmother's advice: "Use those beautiful and brilliant minds of yours. Lift your arms, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and believe in a thing. Somebody somewhere at some point was just as bored you are now." And before they know it, their imaginations lift them up and out of their boredom. Then, on a day full of quarrels, it's time for a trip outside their minds again, and they are able to leave their anger behind. This precious skill, their grandmother tells them, harkens back to the days long before they were born, when their ancestors showed the world the strength and resilience of their beautiful and brilliant minds. Jacqueline Woodson's lyrical text and Rafael Lopez's dazzling art celebrate the extraordinary ability to lift ourselves up and imagine a better world.
Rebecca James
Student Engagement and Connection Learning Specialist