Dear Parents and Friends,

We have a had a productive and busy start to Term Four. Our VCE and VCAL senior students are well-engaged in the last weeks of their study-designs and making great use of the senior study area.

Today our staff team worked together at the Shepparton Golf Course on a Professional Learning Day built around supporting student and staff engagement and wellbeing. A great time of year for us to stop and sharpen the sword as we move into exam periods and end of year celebrations.

Wellbeing Message

Confidence is key!

"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit". – E.E. Cummings

What does confidence look like to you? A confident person is generally optimistic, willing to take risks, accepts responsibility for their mistakes and learns from them, and does what they believe is the right thing to do. Not everyone is born with confidence; our self-esteem and our life experiences play a part in moulding it. Low self-esteem and low self-confidence aren’t a life sentence. Confidence can be learned, practiced and mastered. Here are a few ways you can help build your self-confidence:

1. Think of things you’re good at! What are your talents? What are your strengths? How can you build on these? Everyone is good at something.

2. What are some of your achievements? Make a list of things that you’re proud of. It can be easy to forget these things and feel like we’ve achieved nothing.

3. Talk yourself up. Think about your self-talk and how it might be affecting your level of confidence. Talk to yourself the way you would talk to your best friend. Speak to yourself positively. Stay away from negativity.

4. Set some goals, even very small ones. What are the steps you need to take to achieve these goals? Write a list and tick them off as you go. This should be a regular practice, part of your everyday routine!

5. Get a hobby. Everyone needs one! What are your passions? Some people volunteer at soup kitchens or with their local council, some people play sports, some play instruments. The choices really are endless. Hobbies can help you refine your skills, in turn helping you achieve more and building your level of confidence.

6. Groom yourself. This might sound obvious, but when we look our best, we tend to feel our best. Exercise, eat well, dress nicely. This can completely turn your mood around.

7. Focus on solutions. It’s easy to get bogged down by negative things happening around us. Think about what you can change rather than what you can’t and be proactive. Be grateful for what you can change and work on.

Principal For A Day

Thursday the 11th October was a state wide 'Principal for a day' event. The 'Principal for a day' Councillor for Greater Shepparton CEO, Sam Birrell, shadowed our McGuire College Principal Claire Kelly and participated in normal day-to-day activities in a school. Sam's day also included a tour of the school and discussions with students and teachers.

The program aims to bring business and community leaders together with school leaders developing ongoing and mutually beneficial relationships.

Head over to www.bastow.vic.edu.au/alumni-and-events/principal-for-a-day for more information.

Kind regards, Claire Kelly

McGuire College Newsletter

Issue 15 · 19 Oct 2018

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