Deputy Principal - Student Wellbeing 

Welcome to 2021

Students have started well and are adapting to challenges already with COVID 3.0 but let us look at the positives, welcome to our new Year 7 students, our College Captains have addressed the student body and we have started the process of meeting as a Student representative Council.  We welcome back Ms Trish Dounias as Aquila House Leader and Achok Bieth to the Wellbeing Team.

Year 7 students may have missed their opening Welcome Mass but at least they got to go on Camp before we went into lockdown.  I would like to congratulate all the Year 7 students on their engagement with camp and the mature way that they behaved and participated, many of the staff members who attended camp commented on what a great group of students we had this year.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff who attended camp and especially Ms Sue Keel for all her preparation prior to the camp, without staff willing to give up their time we would not be able to send students away on camp to enjoy the opportunity to make new friends and get to know each other outside of school.

Our College Captains Maria Hinen and Aiden Cachart had the chance to speak to the whole college during our opening assembly and they outlined their reasons for putting themselves forward for leadership positions as well as outlining their vision for the college for 2021.  Tiana Amoretti and Kent Mijares also were involved in our opening assembly with key roles as well as being our Faith and Mission Captains for 2021.  I look forward to working with them for the year and helping them grow and develop into fine young leaders.

On Monday 15/2 we were able to hold a TEAMS meeting with the majority of our Student Representative Council members.  These students have been chosen in different ways to represent their Houses and year levels on the SRC to allow for a more genuine student voice in college decisions.  At the meeting we started the process of looking at how meetings will be held at an SRC level as well as at House level and what will be key points for discussion.  We are already looking at Student Surveys as a means of getting feedback on key areas of interest for students as well as looking at key days within the College calendar such as Harmony Day and MAD Day where students will have much to offer. 

 Again, I look forward to working with this group of students to develop young future leaders and college captains.

I take this opportunity to welcome back Ms Trish Dounias to the position of Aquila House Leader for 2021 and thank Ms Anne Aldis for stepping into the role for 2020.  Ms Dounias has hit the ground running getting back in touch with the Aquila students and Learning Mentors to ensure she can offer the best support possible.  

Achok Bieth has joined the Wellbeing team and has come to us with a wealth of experience working with young people and families in the broader Dandenong community and is a great fit for our students.  Achok has some really exciting plans for activities for our students that will allow them to build on resilience, positive self-worth and the idea to challenge themselves to be the best they can be.  We are looking at ways to engage the students in programs to support their wellbeing as we know that students who are happy are able to engage in their learning in a much more productive way.

So, all in all a very busy first few weeks that have already given our students a chance to show what they are made of.  We look forward to learning more about our Year 7 students, working with our College Captains and ensuring the SRC is a genuine reflection of student voice.  Welcome to 2021 from Student Wellbeing