Assistant Principal -

Wellbeing

Welcome back to Term 3!

I struggle to believe we are already well into the term. Last week we were lucky to have a staff professional development day that was focused on how we can support students to engage in learning with a trauma informed methodology. It was a day that allowed our teachers to reflect on how we start and finish our lessons and how important it is that we create spaces of safety to allow our young people to be open to learning. For without a sense of safety, we are never going to be able to be open to new and challenging things. We will be continuing this professional development over the next 6 months as a staff.

This week we began our conversations with our current year 11 students around leadership. Next week they will head off to their retreat where they will have a real opportunity to learn about what leadership is and the character strengths good leaders possess. We will then be encouraging them to apply for a range of student leadership positions for 2025. At the same time we are keen to provide times for our current student leadership team to meet with those interested so as they can share their knowledge and reflections about the role, the challenges and some key tips to being successful. I look forward to reading and meeting with our prospective leaders of 2025 over the coming weeks.

As many may have noticed, the refurbishment of the Angela building is well and truly underway. I think it is important that we give credit to our students for being flexible in their understanding that the areas available for breaks have changed. No longer is the Quad available for the regular handball games, students have had to negotiate and find other suitable areas. We have opened up the front lawn for students to sit in the sun and talk. Access to bathrooms has been challenging, but students have coped well. Given all the fencing, students have managed to get to classes in a timely manner and followed the allocated pathways. I must also thank families for understanding that traffic movement through school is limited.

Things for us to focus on is working with our students around wearing correct and appropriate uniforms to school. Too many students are in incorrect uniform each and every day, from the persistent wearing of Canterbury branded clothing, to the college hoodie being worn with formal uniform. I would appeal to you to support the College expectations around being prepared for learning, this includes uniform and bringing a charged device to school each and every day.

Things to keep in your diary:

• Year 11 Retreat next week 
• Step Day - our assistant Catechist will be supporting the yr 6 students on their experience day
• Trial examinations are fast approaching for our Year 12 students
• Next Friday we are having a fundraiser for one of our students who is currently in Westmead Hospital. We are asking students to donate a gold coin to wear their PJs to school. Our Ursula captains have organised this event. They will be selling hot chocolate and pancakes as well. 
• We wish our Rugby 7’s team and our netballers travelling to Sydney the best as they represent the College at their events 

Warm Regards,

Mrs Mellissa Bell

Assistant Principal Wellbeing