Wellbeing

Sexual Health Victoria - EveryBODY

Thanks to the families who attended the information sessions on Tuesday (P-2s) and Wednesday (Grade 3-6s) last week to learn more about the program that will be running in the classes over the next three weeks.

The thought of what will be covered in these sessions can be confronting for parents and many feel they are responsible for when these concepts are introduced to their children. Chloe from Sexual Health Victoria presented some interesting statistics about how children learn about the changes their bodies go through:

75% learn the information from their friends
72.6% learn the information from school
56.7% learn the information from Internet websites
49.7% learn the information from their mothers
17.8% learn the information from their fathers.

The program is designed to be comprehensive and age-appropriate, delivered progressively throughout primary and secondary school, equipping students with the knowledge and skills to navigate puberty and develop healthy relationships.

The program is not run to replace the values that are important in each home but are designed to be a protective factor which promotes wellbeing and address any confusion children may be feeling after their exposure to digital media platforms including music videos, TikToks, images etc.

If you have any concerns about the program, please speak to Scott or me.

The photos below show the staff being introduced to all the equipment that we will make available to students in the coming weeks for Terrific Tuesday and Wellbeing Wednesday Play Clubs. The staff had fun playing with our new toys!

Student Attitudes to School Survey Data

Each year our Grade 4-6 students complete the Attitudes to School Survey. The survey collects the students views about a range of issues including Learning, Experience at School and Student Health and Wellbeing.

On Friday, Scott, Hannah, Shona and I worked with all the 5/6s to begin to unpack the data and see if there are any trends. Later this term, the student leaders will attend a staff meeting and work with staff to further unpack the data and review if there are any changes we need to make to our programs to improve things for our students.

We will share further information with our community once the students have completed their review and formulated their recommendations.

Terrific Tuesday Play Club and Wellbeing Wednesday Play Club

The STEM room will be open to years 3 - 6 students on Terrific Tuesdays and to P - 2 students on Wellbeing Wednesdays. Students will need to line up outside the Octane building and wait to be invited in. Unfortunately there are limited spaces, which means that some students will need to use their coping strategies and wait for the following weeks.

Below are some snapshots taken on Terrific Tuesday 3 & 17 June and Wellbeing Wednesday 11 June. All students who attended enjoyed playing fairly with each other and took turns in their games.

Free to Be Me Project

At the start of term 2, 8 students leaders were chosen to work with Linda, Julie and Liz from DPV Health to discuss use of spaces, equipment and visuals around the school to ensure that we are showing equality throughout our school. It was called the 'Free To Be Me' project. The focus of this was on gender stereotypes and how to see past them. To work for a future where genders don’t matter. Where anyone can do a certain job without being discriminated against. In this project all 8 of us got separated into 3 groups:

Visuals:

Aleena, Pearl and Evan

Made posters that include gender equality, diversity, and LGBTQIA+ themes and posted them around the school for all teachers and students to see!

Places:

Banin, Yousef and Betul

Worked on a couch roster for 5-6s because everyone fights for a seat

and getting a new table for the middle area of the prep building as mostly boys used it.

Equipment:

Hassan K, Artin

Worked on a sandpit roster for the P-2 so it's not overcrowded.

After all this we learned how being a gender stereotype can harm or insult people.