Wellbeing 

WELLBEING PROGRAMS – MAY 2025

The Wellbeing Team has some exciting news! Over the next few weeks, several organisations will be visiting our school to deliver workshops to students on a range of topics that they themselves have identified as important and relevant to their lives.

On 12 May, the Black Dog Institute will deliver a program called Mental Fitness to our Year 9 cohort. This presentation emphasises the importance of connection in maintaining mental wellbeing and equips young people with practical strategies to support their own mental health, as well as that of their friends.

Then, on 20, 22, 27, and 29 May, Family Violence Free will run a workshop called Let’s Talk for our Year 11 students. Let’s Talk is a free, interactive, and informative workshop designed to help young people understand and respond to intimate partner violence. It empowers them with the knowledge and skills to build respectful relationships now and in the future. Please don’t worry! Each student will only attend one session. Due to the size of the cohort, we needed to book multiple sessions to ensure all students could participate.

On 26 May, Toolbox Education will visit to deliver two different workshops:

• Year 7 – Thinking Traps

  This workshop helps students learn to use a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) approach to recognise and challenge anxious thoughts. Students will be guided through practical strategies to manage anxiety, build confidence, and develop healthier thinking patterns.

   

• Year 8 – Mental Movies 

  This workshop helps students understand how their minds can replay difficult experiences and negative thoughts—like watching uncomfortable “mental movies.” These can create anxiety, worry, and make it hard to stay focused on the present. Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) strategies, students will learn techniques to reduce the impact of these thoughts and feel more calm, present, and in control.

We are very excited to offer these valuable programs to our students. We also recognise that some of the topics may be challenging. We encourage you to have open and supportive conversations with your young person to help them reflect on and make sense of the workshop content.

Remember that as part of our VSC community you have access to SchoolTV — a comprehensive platform offering expert information on a wide range of mental health and wellbeing topics to help you better support your young person.

If you have any concerns before or after the workshops, please don’t hesitate to contact the Wellbeing Team at 03 8872 6300 or reach out to your young person’s Student Manager.

Let’s keep working together to strengthen, support, and safeguard the mental health and wellbeing for all.