From the Principal
From the Principal
Congratulations to the following:
- Our Primary Huon and Channel Athletic team that won the point score last week
- Our Primary Choir that won the Year 6 and Under competition at the Hobart Eisteddfod
- Our Year 9/10 Science and Engineering team that competed in the State final in Launceston this week
- Andie Smith who participated in a basketball program at the Centre of Excellence in Canberra last week. Andie’s team won each of their games, including against a visiting Chinese team.
Being a Parent Detective
This week, I was reading articles on the mental health and wellbeing of young people in schools. Unfortunately, too many young people will experience adversity, whether it be the result of family stresses, peer issues or personal concerns. The article addressed factors that contribute to resilience for children during challenging periods.
One article particularly drew on the work of Dr Diedre Gartland from the Resilience and Mental Health Research program at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Gartland identified some things that parents could do to support their children.
- Connect children in with things they are good at or especially enjoy. This could be sports, music, hobbies, art activities or clubs.
- Act as role models of emotional health by openly discussing their emotions and the strategies the parent uses to manage the. Parents can talk about their experiences of navigating turbulent times.
- Spend incidental time with your child, as a way of being able to gauge changes over time. Just sitting down to dinner together a few nights a week can be part of this.
- Help students to know what resources they have to draw on when they are finding things difficult. This can be their internal resources or practices, like deep breathing, spending some time listening to music or doing something physically active. It can also be knowing the people they can talk to or seek help from.
Parents can become a ‘parent detective’, noticing what works well for individual children and the ways they can best support them as an individual. When families have more than one child, parents are often aware that what works best for one child does not work with another. Some little people are more sensitive than others and need more explicit support in understanding and managing their emotions.
All children need to feel a sense of belonging, worth and connectedness.
One of the things I try to encourage my children to hold on when they are feeling stretched is to remember that they have been called by God’s spirit to come to Him, to know that He is their Father and we can turn to Him at any time. I look to passages such as those from Romans 8:14-16:
'For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.'
Staff News
It is with sadness that I share with you that Mr Todd Barker has made the difficult decision to resign from his position at Southern Christian College. Please see the attached letter.
Jodie Bennett
Principal