From the Leadership Team

As a teacher and pastoral leader, I know that a strong sense of belonging at school makes for a powerful and empowering learning experience, both in the short and long term, and improves overall wellbeing, mental health. 

We work hard at Endeavour to ensure all our students feel part of, valued and cared for by this community, and we do this in various formal and informal ways. 

While pastoral support is not limited to structured programs and policies, we intentionally design some programs and activities to provide opportunities for students to strengthen peer connections and form positive relationships. 

These include Care Group and Village, sports carnivals, clubs, beginning of year orientation days and end of year activity days. 

And, of course, there are year level camps for Years 7, 9, 11 and 12, which are designed to give students a chance to share fun and challenging experiences, work together as a team, make new friends, and see their teachers in a supportive, relaxed setting.  

Our Year 7s threw a lot of energy at their camp this week and showed that time away from the classroom is certainly not time away from learning. We saw their social skills grow and develop in a way that is sometimes difficult to see in the structured environment of the classroom. 

They cheered each other on to do physically challenging activities, competed with (mostly) friendly spirit, and helped each other to manage the demands of being independent and well organised. And of course, they laughed and played together.  

They also made mistakes together, pushed a few boundaries and experienced one or two social setbacks. It is important to remember that without these sorts of experiences, our students’ social skills can’t fully blossom.  

So, we all returned from camp exhausted! Knowing that this experience leads to our students feeling more included, valued, accepted, and connected makes it so worthwhile. 

This is what cultural safety is built on. 

This is belonging.  

Louisa Mulligan

Head of Middle School