Wellbeing and Positive Education.

The Wellbeing Team@CESC:

I would like introduce our wellbeing team to the wider school community. Our wellbeing team comprises of a mix of counsellors, mental health practitioners, psychologists, an African Community Liaison Officer, youth mental health social work and an Assistant Principal of Wellbeing and Positive Education. Our commitment to providing high levels of wellbeing support to our school community is evident in the strength of our team. 

Mr Paul Campbell - Assistant Principal Wellbeing and Positive Education.

Ms Nicole Price - Wellbeing Leader and Year 11/12 counsellor.

Ms Hannah Coburn - Assistant Wellbeing Leader & Year 10/11 Counsellor.

Mr Alan Yin - Mental Health Practitioner.

Ms Sherien Wissa - Years 7/8 counsellor.

Mr Sam Dzungayira - African Community Liaison Officer and student counsellor. 

Ms Maggie Francis - Year 9 Counsellor.

Jalaene - Headspace Psychologist (Mon and Wed).

Jess Deehan - Youth Mental Health Social Worker (one day per week).

For parents and guardians:

If you would like to make a referral for your son/daughter please don't hesitate to contact the wellbeing team. This can be done by either calling the school office and asking to be put through to the Wellbeing Centre or by emailing through a request to (paul.campbell@education.vic.gov.au or Nicole.price3@education.vic.gov.au). 

Please note every Thursday we have the Doctors in Schools program at our college, students are able to book in for a regular visit to the GP and have the support of a fully qualified doctor and nurse free of charge (please note parents/guardians do not need to be present for the appointment), this service now includes pathology tests, contact the wellbeing team for more information.  

STRIVE - Positive Education program:

I would like to start by announcing Rebecca Nessim as our colleges Leading Teacher for Positive Education, Rebecca brings a wealth of knowledge to this space and is incredibly passionate about improving our students mindsets and wellbeing. 

We are excited to announce the implementation of our colleges Positive Education program called STRIVE. STRIVE is based on the pillars of wellbeing and stands for Strength, Thankfulness, Relationships, Inspiration, Vision and Emotion. The aim of STRIVE is to empower our students to become the best version of themselves and prepare them for the road ahead in their lives. 

The purpose behind implementing the STRIVE program is to create a school community where students and staff are feeling good and doing good. The feeling good is about cultivating resilience, healthy minds, vitality, emotional stability and a sense of connectedness to a community. The doing good is about caring for others, nurturing positive relationships, displaying acts of kindness and using ones skills and knowledge to contribute to society. The premise is, if we can work to make our students and staff feel good, they will in turn do good and thus improve the learning environment for the whole school community. Through STRIVE students will learn valuable lessons in developing skills and knowledge that will enable them to deal with the day to day stressors of school and life outside of school.

As part of the STRIVE program our students will undertake a range of learning experiences implemented in the school curriculum and as stand alone presentations and workshops. I am excited to announce CESC has formed partnerships with The Resilience Project and The Reach Foundation, the purpose of these partnerships is to further enhance the schools ability to prepare our students for life both within and outside of school. Skills and knowledge they will be learning will equip them to be resilient, happy, optimistic and caring individuals ready to face the stressors of day to day life. 

If you would like to hear more information about the STRIVE program please don't hesitate to contact myself or Rebecca Nessim at the school.

The year so far:

Term 1 has seen the official launch of our positive education program, as part of the program our Year 7's and year 12's were the first cohorts to undertake their Reach Foundation workshop centred around 'connection'. The workshops were aimed to foster a connection between students through gaining an understanding of who their peers are and what values they share. Students were encouraged to be open, honest and vulnerable with each other to share their life experiences. It was incredibly powerful to watch our most junior students be brave and open up to each other in the manner they did, we hope the lessons learnt of the importance of forming and maintaining connections will stick with the cohort for years to come. The main message was to be kind and treat each other well as you never know what people could be going through in their lives away from school. For our year 12 students the Reach Foundation workshop was conducted whilst on their camp in the first week of school and for me was a highlight of our year so far, the years were unbelievable at opening up to each other and developing a great sense of trust and connection amongst the cohort that will no doubt put them in great stead to support each other through their final year of their secondary school lives. 

School Clubs:

The school clubs program consists of 22 different clubs, catering for a large range of students interests and hobbies. Clubs are ran during lunchtimes by staff and work to promote connectedness of peers to peers and students to teachers. 

The wellbeing team are proud to be running three lunchtime clubs this year, the Diversity Club, The BFF club and Stronger.

All clubs are in place to provide a safe, positive and welcoming environment for students to get together, form relationships and undertake a range of games and learning activities. 

This year marks the arrival of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac. Previous years of the Dragon include 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, and 2012. To celebrate the festival, students enthusiastically engaged in various activities such as quizzes, calligraphy writing, lantern crafting, decorating dragon cutouts, and enjoying a photo booth. Wishing everyone abundant health, happiness, wealth, and prosperity in this auspicious Year of the Dragon!