Wellbeing

by J Caruana/Kylie Lloyd

WELLBEING WEEK

September 9 - 11 was our awesome Wellbeing Week which culminated with R U OK? Day on Thursday 11 September

A plethora of activites kept students and staff engaged which was wonderful to see.

Some of the activites included:

HOT CHOCOLATE (fresh fruit) and CONVERSATION STARTERS - on each morning through Wellbeing Week, different year levels of students were invited to the Student Dining Area for a FREE hot chocolate and a conversation starter! This was hugely popular.

So many community groups joined us in bringing Wellbeing Week to life. These included:

# members of Victoria Police who joined the students and staff for a game of Dodgeball in the gym (Weds 10 Sep)

# EACH and Manningham Council who faciliated a plethora of student activites at lunchtime (Tues 9 Sep)

#Nillubik Youth Services and Headspace who similarly came out to engage students in activites (Thurs 11 September)

The vibrancy of our Wellbeing Week also extended to:

# all staff members receiving a drink voucher

#the finding of the Gang Gang each morning - the first to find the Gang Gang each morning won an instant prize! Year 7s had this one in the bag!

Term 3 in review

This term Wellbeing has been busy. Some of the amazing things that have happened this term include:

Study without Stress sessions for Year 11 and 12 students during Strive classes.
Peer Support Leaders in Year 7 WELL classes
Planning, preparing and organising upcoming Annual Wellbeing Week to coincide with RUOK Day.
Presentation at Mental Health Practitioner's Practice Day at the amazing events, programs and groups being offered at our school to support wellbeing and mental health.
Attending the Manningham Council Principal's breakfast with our school captain Kirow Nestorovski.
Collaborating with School Focused Youth Service to develop a group program to support disengaged students in Year 8.
Planning, preparing and facilitating the Cool Kids at School program to support students experiencing anxiety.

Clancy update

Clancy, Warrandyte High School's therapy pup in training commences his accreditation training to become a therapy dog in September. Clancy has been an integral member of the school community since June 2024 as a 10 week old puppy. He has a big job ahead with the Mental Health Practitioner to be upskilled in becoming registered as a therapy support animal.

Looking Ahead

As we conclude term 3 and head into term 4 some of our planned wellbeing events include

Butterfly Foundation Workshops for Year 7 - 10 students that focus on positive body image
Lead the Way Institute is coming back to Warrandyte High School to run Confident Paws and Peaceful Paws group program/workshops
Minus 18 will present to Year 7-9 students during Term 4.
Recruitment for 2026 Year 10 Peer Support Leaders and Orientation Training.
Planning Wellbeing events, workshops and program for 2026.