Student Wellbeing/Pastoral
Trish Star - Leader of Student Wellbeing and Pastoral Care
This week students have participated in a variety of Wellbeing activities. On Tuesday, 15 members of the Yr 11 Wellbeing Committee, along with our College counsellor Karen Surian, Wellbeing Support Worker Sue Hone and myself attended the Murrumbidgee Youth Mental Health Forum. The Forum brought together young people from across our region and gave them the opportunity to learn more about mental health and wellbeing, how to support their peers, and how to access professional support. It is an initiative of Headspace and facilitated by Burn Bright. The team has started work on an initiative to begin implementing in term 3 and they presented this to whole group at the end of the day.
On Wednesday the student body and all teaching staff were involved in presentations by Kirra Pendergast from Safe On Social. Some of the topics Kirra covered were:
- The impact of social media on mental health and wellbeing
- Digital identity and reputation management
- Safe and responsible use of emerging technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality
- Online ethics
- Online safety and privacy for children and teens
- Group chat management
- Respectful online relationships
- Managing cyberbullying and online hate and support for victims
- How to create a positive online presence
- Image-based abuse and online sexual harassment
- Strategies for managing screen time and digital addiction
The presentations were relevant and impactful and will hopefully help our community foster a safer, more compassionate online environment. As a parent/carer you might like to follow Safe On Social on Facebook as they provide many useful tips, both for yourself and for keeping up with what your child is doing on line.
Upcoming events:
Friday June 21 (week 8) - Thomas Reynolds from Drug Education Australia will be meeting with students from Years 8, 9 and 10. The students will look at issues such as vaping, alcohol, drugs & the law/illicit drug-related situations and safe partying. This will be appropriate to the student year level. An incursion note has been issued on Compass.
Term 2 is rapidly flying by. I hope this long weekend provides an opportunity to rest and recharge as we enter the last 4 weeks of term.
Remember to reach out to your child’s Pastoral Leader if you have concerns.
Thank you
Trish Star