Wellbeing

Fezzik the Wellbeing Dog

On Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, the School's new Wellbeing Dog, Fezzik, will be at school with Mr Wakim as part of the wellbeing team. Fezzik has been introduced to the students at Junior and Senior School Assemblies where some ground rules for meeting the Dog have been shared with the students:

• As with any Dog, always ask the owner if you can pat the Dog (use the back of your hand to introduce yourself to the Dog)
• Try not to crowd all around the Dog or rush towards the Dog

Fezzik will follow Mr Wakim to his classes, hang out with him in the Wellbeing Room & Chaplain's Office for students needing to talk through issues. They will also visit other classes where students can read to Fezzik.

Fezzik is named after French actor André the Giant and his character in the movie The Princess Bride. Fezzik's breed is Brittany, from the region of Brittany in France, hence the connection with a French actor. Some time ago they were called Brittany Spaniels but the Spaniel section was dropped over time.

Fezzik is a beautifully-natured dog who loves nothing more than getting pats under his chin, neck and chest. He often also rolls over onto his back for a tummy rub. From time to time he may even do a few tricks for the crowd. He will be turning eight years old on August 22nd.

Fezzik and Mr Wakim completed intensive training to receive their qualification to be an "Animal Assisted Intervention for Human - Canine Team". This was completed with Kim and David Pringuer from "Pawfect Communities".

Please encourage your child to remember good hygiene habits after patting the dog and wash their hands before eating. If your child is unsure or nervous around dogs, extra care will be taken to ensure that they can feel comfortable. If they would like to have some slow and easy introductions with Fezzik so that they can become more comfortable with dogs, one on one sessions can be easily organised.

On a side note, Mr Wakim is not at all sad when everyone says "Hi" to Fezzik but ignores him.

Marko Wakim

Chaplain

Harmony Day

On Harmony Day this week, we celebrated a wonderful day together with lots of traditional clothing worn, bringing about interesting comments and discussion. Many students wore the colour orange which Harmony Day has chosen to represent diversity, mutual respect and freedom of ideas. 

Students spoke about their cultures and heritage, and at Lunchtime the Junior School were invited to watch and participate in a concert which featured Bagpipes, Irish dancing and South African music with students showing off their skills. Our Senior School held some fun games organised by our Year 12 students, which concluded a busy day for them as they all ran Chapel during Period 4.

Census data shows that almost half of Australians were born overseas or have a parent who was, and over the past 70 years more than seven and a half thousand migrants have made Australia their home. Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandez de Quiros declared 400 years ago that Australia is "The Great Southland of the Holy Spirit". What a blessing it is to live in Australia.

Camilla McLeod

Chaplain