Pastoral Care

This year, we have incorporated numerous guest speakers and programs to enhance student learning in the pastoral space. Recently, Year 9 heard from alumni Anne Gately on her personal experiences related to sun safety. 

Across Years 7-9, students also learn pastoral activities through Wellio online learning. Wellio is an online platform used to deliver wellbeing lessons related to our BRAVE program. They are offering some upcoming free parent webinars, designed to support what the girls are learning in school. Please see below for further details.

Optus have also provided free seminars on both cyberbullying protection and digital identity. These interactive workshops are helpful to teach skills when navigating online, as well as positive online behaviours and protection from scamming and cyber crimes. Please see here for their website and fact sheets.

Year 9 Sun Safety Presentation with Anne Gately

Our Year 9 students were recently privileged to hear from author, advocate, and Stage IV melanoma survivor (and Brigidine alumna) Anne Gately, for a powerful and eye-opening presentation on sun safety.

Known for her candid memoir Sunburnt, Anne shared her personal journey of growing up enjoying the classic Australian outdoor lifestyle at the beach and then sharing her story of receiving a life-threatening melanoma diagnosis. Rather than focusing solely on statistics, she connected with the students by exploring why our culture places such a high value on a "bronzed" look and challenged them to rethink how they interact with the sun.

Key messages for students:

• Australia's sun-worshipping norms put us at a high risk for skin cancer, since we’re so often out in the sun; whether it be playing sports or at the beach.
• Shifting away from invincibility mindsets and taking everyday protective measures seriously during sports and outdoor social activities. 95% of skin cancers are preventable. Wear sunscreen and reapply, wear hats and protective clothing. 
• Regular checks and monitor if spots change

We encourage families to continue this dialogue at home and help our students stay sun-smart all year round.

Wellio parent seminar

As part of our ongoing partnership with Wellio this year, we're continuing to support our community with proactive, consistent pastoral care and resources for students and families. Wellio are offering the following online webinar for supporting students to manage social issues on and offline.

FREE Parent Webinar: Friendship Problems and Social Stress  

• Thursday, 10th of September, 6:30–7:30pm
• In this session, explore strategies to assist with social issues and dynamics, navigating fallouts and responding to challenges.
• Can't make it live? Complete the registration and Wellio will send the recording and any supporting resources to all registrants after the session.
• Register Here

Sarah Charles

Director of Pastoral Care