Student Wellbeing and Engagement

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of another year! It only seems like yesterday that we walked into the old buildings on the first day this year, excited to begin the year ahead. Term 4 has been one with plenty of celebrations.

New Build Community Opening

The beginning of the term saw the school open its doors and welcome the wider community to see our new buildings. The afternoon opened with Wurundjeri Elder, Uncle Perry Wandin performing a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony. He explained the significance behind the ancient tradition in which the buildings and individuals are cleansed to ward off bad spirits to provide a brighter future. This was an insightful experience for our students to be part of and it was extremely pleasing to see the respect demonstrated by everyone involved.

We also heard about the history of PLSC from our School Council President, Colleen Monteleone and stories from Year 12s Nicky and Indi about their experiences at PLSC over the last 4 years. Everyone then got together and feasted on a BBQ lunch and shared stories about the PLSC journey. The day was a great one for the whole school community.

Year 12 Graduation

This term was one of celebrations for our Year 12s. Their final days of secondary school was a time of excitement and celebration as students fulfilled their final requirements for their VCE-VM and VCAL Certificates. The Year 12s last day was celebrated with a fancy-dress theme where students dressed up in character and celebrated the end of their secondary schooling with a pizza lunch.

The annual Graduation Evening was a huge success allowing students, families and staff an opportunity to come together and celebrate the achievements of the graduating Class of 2023! A massive congratulations to the following award winners:

Well done to every student on their achievements and a massive thanks to the teachers and staff that helped along the way!

Mental Health Practitioner- Welcome

At the start of Term 4, we welcomed our new MHP, Rachael Millsom to PLSC. Rachael has provided valuable expertise into the wellbeing space and we look forward to her work within the school community in 2024. Please see her welcome letter below.

Hello parents, carers and students at PLSC.  I wanted to introduce myself to you as the new Mental Health Practitioner at the school. I am new to working in a school environment so I am excited to get to know and support the students here. My role is to support students with wellbeing concerns, which could look like some short term counselling, running some small group programs, supporting referrals to outside organisations as well as more educational/whole school wellbeing support. I work alongside Olivia in the Wellbeing Office and together we hope to run some short sessions and programs for both students and parents at PLSC next year. 

In term 1, we will hold a parent’s afternoon tea to come into the school, meet the wellbeing team and enjoy some delicious snacks.  You don’t have to be concerned about your child’s wellbeing to come along.

In term 2, I will be offering a ‘Tuning Into Teens’ program for parents. Tuning into Teens is an evidence-based program that supports parents to better understand and respond to their own and their teens emotions and support increased connection between parents and teens.  The program will run for 6 weeks in the late afternoon/early evening at Peter Lalor Secondary College free of charge. Tea/Coffee and snacks will be available. If you would like to register your interest you can do so at the following link: Working with Teens 2024

You can reach out to Olivia and myself on wellbeing@peterlalor.vic.edu.au if you have any questions or concerns.

Happy Holidays.

On behalf of the Student Engagement and Wellbeing Team I would like wish everyone a happy and safe holiday period. We look forward to working with everyone returning to PLSC in 2024.