Assistant Principal (Years 7/8) Report 

Report from Assistant Principal Years Yr 7/8

Alice Paget

Dear students, parents and guardians,

This week marks the half-way point of the Term. All students at the College will soon take part in the Attitudes to School Survey. The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experiences of school. 

We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction. We look forward to unpacking the data sets later in the year. With this information we evaluate, develop goals and plan actions to improve our students’ learning experience and wellbeing in the College.  

Wellbeing (Brain Care)

Wellbeing has been recognised by the Department of Education as crucial and valued of equal importance to learning. Wellbeing is the development of the capabilities necessary to thrive, contribute and respond positively to challenges and opportunities of life. Wellbeing is now being explicitly taught in each year level at Westall SC. 

Let’s have a closer look at what is happening in Years 7 and 8 this Term:

• Social Stencil: 

Year 7s are working there way through the Social Stencil Program, that teaches practical social concepts and strategies, to build peer relationship skills, and a culture of respect, understanding, care and collaboration. This Term students take a deeper dive in how to navigate friendships conflicts, and how to overcome challenges through a lens of problem solving, care and assertive communication. 

• Resilience Project

Year 8s have been focusing each week on 3 key pillars that have been proven to cultivate positive emotion: Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness. This Term we are taking a deeper dive into Gratitude and its impacts. Each week they have also self-assessed their healthy habits, with the focus this Term being on screen-free time. All students have set a goal to reduce their screen-free time afterschool. 

Keen for more ways to improve you and your family’s mental health? Take a look at one of the resources from the Resilience Project Wellbeing Hub for Parents / Carers below, as well as the Imperfects podcast. 

Staff Wellbeing 

A thriving school relies on a healthy, connected community. While student wellbeing is always at our core, we know it thrives best when our dedicated staff are equally supported. When our teams are energised, that positive energy flows directly into the classroom.

To celebrate this, Week 5 of every term is dedicated to a deliberate focus on staff wellbeing. Here is a quick snapshot of the fantastic staff events from this week:

• Staff Trivia

• Baby Photo Competition

• Screening of the Westall UFO Documentary 

• Staff lunch 

• Yoga

Thank you to the Wellbeing Team who organised and joined in. By looking after each other, we build a stronger school for our students!

Until next time, take care and stay warm through these colder months!

Ms Alice Paget

Assistant Principal (Years 7/8)