Student Wellbeing 

🌱 Wellbeing at GEC: Working Together to Support Student Wellbeing

There is lots happening in Wellbeing at GEC, and we are excited to share some of the ways we are continuing to support our students and wider school community.

💛 Welcome back, El!

We are incredibly grateful to have our wonderful Mental Health Practitioner, El, back with us after a very well-deserved break travelling around Europe! We hope El had an amazing time and are very happy to have her back supporting our students and staff.

🏠 Learning about Homelessness

Eight of our Year 8 students, accompanied by the incredible Mrs Lawson, were lucky enough to attend Homelessness Week at Upton Road Youth Services.

The students heard from the amazing Jill, as well as Jayden and Emily, two young women who have previously lived in the refuge. They shared their experiences and spoke about how the refuge supports young people experiencing homelessness, as well as the range of services and supports available.

It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to listen, learn and develop a deeper understanding of an important issue within our community.

And, of course, there was also time for some very delicious snacks! 

Our students are now keen to explore ways that we might be able to fundraise to support this incredibly worthy cause, which is fantastic to see.

🗣️ Social Skills Program returns!

We are excited to be restarting our Social Skills Program this week.

The program provides a supportive space for students to develop skills around communication, friendships, navigating social situations, problem-solving and building confidence. We are looking forward to getting the program back up and running and continuing to support our students to Learn, Grow and Connect.

🎓 New counselling placement

We are also very pleased to welcome a Master of Counselling student from Monash University to GEC as part of her placement.

She will be available to provide one-to-one sessions with students, offering another opportunity for students to talk, reflect and develop strategies to support their wellbeing.

If you think your student may benefit from this additional support, please reach out to the Wellbeing Team and we can discuss how this might work.

🧘 Wellbeing in the Learning Centre

With senior students beginning to feel the pressure of end-of-year assessments and exams, the Wellbeing Team will also be spending time in the Learning Centre on Mondays and Thursdays.

This will provide senior students with an accessible opportunity to drop in, connect with a member of the Wellbeing Team and access support around:

• managing stress and anxiety
• preparing for exams and assessments
• developing positive study and wellbeing strategies
• managing pressure and expectations
• finding practical ways to maintain balance and wellbeing.

Sometimes a quick conversation, a chance to reset or learning a new strategy can make a big difference. We want students to know that they don't have to wait until things feel overwhelming before reaching out. 💛

🏡 We've moved!

A final bit of Wellbeing news — we have moved!

You can now find the Wellbeing Team next to the Inclusion Team and near IT, in the old Room 113.

So if you're passing by, come in and say hello! 

A huge thank you to Andrew for all his help with the move — we definitely couldn't have done it without you!

💛 Working Together to Support Student Wellbeing

As always, our door is open. Whether it's a quick check-in, a conversation about a student, or simply wanting to know what support is available, please come and see us.

Learn • Grow • Connect

Nicholas Ford

Head of Wellbeing