Principal's Report
Brentwood Secondary College
Focus on Student Wellbeing
Student wellbeing continues to be at the heart of a lot of our major pieces of work at Brentwood. Throughout this term, we have had a range of awareness days and activities, workshops, guest speakers and social/emotional learning occurring across the school.
Some of these have included:
- Engagement in The Push-Up Challenge mental health awareness campaign (photos below).
- Celebration of IDAHOBIT Day.
- Cyber Safety Project presentations to Year 7-10 students.
- Pat Cronin Foundation ‘Violence is Never OK’ presentation to Year 11 students.
- Year 7-10 students engaging in lessons that focus on gratitude and empathy within our ASPIRE program.
- The ongoing development of our suite of lunch time clubs and activities in which students can participate in.
We are also looking forward to welcoming The Reach Foundation back to Brentwood for our Year 10 workshops on June 23rd. Male students will participate in ‘Locker Room’, which challenges stereotypes of young men and emphasizes the value of vulnerable conversations. Female students will participate in ‘Mirror’, which encourages young people to explore gender stereotypes, their impact, and empowers them to express their authentic selves boldly.
Thank you to all of our staff and our Year 12 ‘Health and Wellbeing Captains’ (Olivia and Rhian) for supporting all of this great work!
If you are interested in learning more about some of these programs and initiatives, please feel free to click on the links below. As we all know, consistent messaging between school and home enhances the potential positive outcomes for our young people. There are also some great resources for parents/carers and families on each of these websites:
https://www.thepushupchallenge.com.au/
https://cybersafetyproject.com/families-hub/
https://patcroninfoundation.org.au/resource-hub/
https://theresilienceproject.com.au/at-home/home-2023/
https://www.reach.org.au/about-reach/
I would also like to highlight the emphasis that we have on student voice and continually seeking feedback from our students. In addition to our student forums earlier this term, our students have also been asked to complete a range of surveys, including the Department’s Students Attitude to School Survey, the Resilient Youth Survey and other school-based surveys. This feedback helps us to inform our future planning.
In addition to this, we continue to value your feedback. If you have any feedback or suggestions in regard to how we can continue to best support our students and their wellbeing, please feel free to contact a member of our Wellbeing Team (via the main office on 03 8545 0300) or send an email to brentwood.sc@education.vic.gov.au.
Aaron Palmer
Assistant Principal – Director of Wellbeing