Principal's Report
As we approach the end of the term, it is my privilege to share some of the great programs and activities that have been happening across the school during Term Three.
Student Wellbeing Programs
Over the past few weeks, we have been fortunate to have some student wellbeing programs run by some highly rated external organisations; Reach and Tomorrow Man / Tomorrow Woman. This term, it was our Year 8, 9 and 10 students who all had the opportunities to participate in these workshops.
Year 8 students participated in the ‘Respect’ workshops that were facilitated by Reach. The aim of these workshops was to get students to develop some awareness of the reasons behind their behaviours and challenged them to reflect on the impact that their actions can have on other people.
Year 9 students participated in the ‘Peer Dynamics’ workshops that were also facilitated by Reach. The aim of these workshops was to continue to reflect on the peer dynamics within the year level and to encourage respect, empathy and awareness of others.
Year 10 students participated in Module Two of the Tomorrow Man / Tomorrow Woman program. This module was titled ‘Middle Ground’. After participating in Module One earlier this year in gender-based groups, this workshop brought male and female groups back together and challenged them to reflect on some of the common challenges that are experienced by the opposing gender – at school and in society.
If your child is in Year 8-10, we encourage you to check in with them and explore any key learnings that they took away from their workshop.
Co-Curricular Activities:
It has also been a busy few weeks with students being provided with a range of co-curricular opportunities. Some of these have included: The Year 11 Theatre Studies Show (The Seussification of Romeo & Juliet), Music Madness, our student-led Community Week, the Silver Duke of Edinburgh Rafting Trip to Mitchell River and our Japanese Exchange Trip. Our students have also continued to experience significant success across a wide range of sporting and athletic pursuits. Our Year 9 students are also currently participating in their four day ‘City Experience’ program.
As always, we encourage students to get involved in as many opportunities as possible. Being involved in these programs has many benefits and supports our students to enhance their sense of belonging, connection and school pride. We are also grateful for our passionate staff, who continue to provide our students with these countless opportunities.
Year 12’s:
As we edge closer towards the end of the school year for our Year 12’s, there are a wide range of emotions being experienced by our current Year 12 cohort. Excitement, nerves and coming to the realisation that the end of their secondary schooling is fast-approaching.
To all of our Year 12 students, do your best to focus on your studies and put in your absolute best effort to finish off the year in a way that you will be able to look back on, knowing that you gave everything that you had for your Year 12 year.
In order to do this, continue to look after yourself! Sleep, good nutrition, physical activity and time management practices will support you in being your best throughout the upcoming period. And don’t forget to reach out for support, when needed. Your teachers, House Hub Staff and the Wellbeing Team are all resources that are available for you to utilise between now and the end of the year.
The Resilience Project:
Our students and staff are continuing to engage with The Resilience Project in a variety of ways throughout the school. If you would like to bring this into your home, here is a challenge for you and each member of your family to complete before the end of the school holidays:
Think about somebody who is really important to you. Why are they so important to you? What are some of their positive character strengths?
Once you have thought about these answers – your challenge is to tell this person why they mean so much to you. This could be in-person, on the phone, in a message or in a letter.
Demonstrating gratitude for somebody else is a great way to make them feel good about themselves. And it also makes us feel good about having a positive impact on another person.
If you would like to find out more about The Resilience Project and gain access to some other great resources and tips to enhance the wellbeing of your family, feel free to check out the following website: https://theresilienceproject.com.au/at-home/home-2023/.
Last Day of Term:
Just a reminder that this Friday the 20th of September is the final day of Term Three and the dismissal time is 2.30pm. Students will return for the first day of Term Four on Monday the 7th of October.
We wish all of our students and families a safe and happy school holiday period.
Aaron Palmer
Assistant Principal – Director of Wellbeing