Pastoral Care & Wellbeing

Hello and welcome back to Term 2. While the weather has changed, the positive energy from Term 1 has continued. We welcome the boys back with excitement for the Term ahead. It is encouraging to see the energy back in the building and the focus back in the classroom.

Year 10 Tomorrow Man Program

On Wednesday this week our Year 10 students got straight into the Term with session 1 of the Tomorrow Man program. In this first of three sessions, we embarked on an important journey together. The Tomorrow Man Program aims to challenge traditional stereotypes of masculinity, encouraging open and honest conversations about mental health, emotions, and relationships. 

During the session, we explored the concept of vulnerability as a strength, not a weakness. We discussed the importance of connecting with our emotions and understanding that it is okay to seek help and support when needed. Many conversations included shared thoughts and feelings, showing great courage and empathy towards one another.

Staff Profession Development

With an internal focus on staff professional development to start the term it was heartening to see our wellbeing team upskilled in several areas this week.

• Teen Mental Health First Aid

As part of our commitment to the Live4Life program we are required to have 10 per cent of our staff trained in Mental Health First Aid. We held our second session on Monday and are pleased to say we now have close to double the minimum standard in this space. Thank you to Brooke Nester who delivered the program to our staff. Brooke has been an excellent support to St Patrick's College as the Wellbeing Education support from Catholic Education Ballarat.

• Year 9 Rite Journey

All Year 9 homeroom teachers participated in a two-day workshop to upskill staff leading our Year 9 Rite Journey program. This program is delivered to our Year 9 students as our pastoral program through the year. This training covered the program’s key principles and strategies for fostering student growth and wellbeing. 

School TV – Sextortion

‘Sextortion’ has been an issue for over a decade, with many adults falling victim to this type of online crime. It is a form of blackmail where someone threatens to share intimate images of you unless you give in to their demands. Organised criminal gangs across Eastern Europe, Russia, and Africa connect to their victims via social media, chat apps, instant messaging platforms and online games. More recently though there has been a higher rate of adolescent males falling victim, that is not to say that young females are not also targeted.

As a boys school, it is important to get this message out to our community, for families to be informed of this predatory practice, and for students to know it is not their fault; help is available. Research suggests that with the current online climate, these kinds of messages are primarily targeted at 15-year-old males. We have a responsibility to have a conversation with our boys in this space. The main message being we will support them if they get into online trouble, that they can talk to a trusted adult.

If you wish to know more, please see the link below from our St Patrick's College School TV link. Other advice for parents and topics can be found on the School TV link from our website or school app.

SPECIAL REPORT: Sextortion | St Patrick's College - Ballarat (schooltv.me)