Wellbeing Report
'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…'. Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities contains one of the best first sentences of a novel ever written. It came to mind as I was reflecting on what to write.
On our student free day on Friday 6 March, we were delighted to have Dr David Collins, a well-known psychologist who specialises in the adolescent brain, present to the staff. Dr Collins helped us understand the complexities of a developing brain and the importance of knowing how past experiences impact on the behaviours of our students. We then worked in groups to discuss all the information presented to us and how we could use that information to better support our students.
On the 10th March in our Extended Pastoral session, all the students were given a presentation, in language they could understand, on Child Safety. We are a Child Safe School and we wanted to ensure that the students in our care know that they have a right to feel safe. Some of the information presented was quite challenging, but our students participated in a very respectful manner. These briefings will be held on a regular basis.
Covid-19 has been ever present in our discussions at school, and I am sure at home. I just noticed an article in The Age about how to talk to children and teens about the virus. I have added the link in case you are interested. It can be a tricky conversation to get right.
The link below is to Headspace. This is advice about how to deal with the growing anxiety amongst our students with regards to the virus.
https://headspace.org.au/young-people/how-to-cope-with-stress-related-to-covid-19/
In these very challenging times, all we can do is take care of each other. In these 'worst of times', let’s try to be the best we can be.
Ms Mirella Venturini and Ms Jackie Kol
Wellbeing Codirectors