Especean

Wellbeing

Applications for Leave

With the gradual return to travel to interstate and regional areas of NSW, parents are reminded that ordinarily the College requires at least four weeks’ notice of Applications for Leave. This includes requests for the final day of the term. As has been communicated previously, it is an expectation that all students be present at key College events such as Founder’s Day and Parent/Teacher interviews in June. If a student does not have a valid reason for being absent from these events, they will be required to complete a College Community Service.

 

The Application for Leave and Exemption From Attendance Forms are available on the College’s website for parents to download, complete and return to Mr Simpson, Director of Wellbeing.

Child Safeguarding

Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) has developed the EREA Child Safeguarding Standards to enhance the way that each EREA school creates and maintains a child safe environment. The Standards aim to further develop a culture within each EREA school wherein protecting children and young people from abuse and other harm, and the promotion of child safety, participation, empowerment and wellbeing is embedded in the everyday thinking and practice of our College’s leaders, staff, and volunteers. Furthermore, Child Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. All adults in the College community have a shared responsibility for contributing to the safety and protection of students​. 

 

A number of senior staff members have been nominated as the College's Child Safeguarding Officers: Dr Lavorato (Principal)​, Mr Chase​ (Deputy Principal) and Mr Simpson (Director of Wellbeing) have received additional specialised training with respect to child safety and protection issues such as Physical Abuse or Harm​, Sexual Abuse​, Grooming, Serious Emotional of Psychological Harm, Neglect​ and Family Violence. They are a point of contact for raising child safety concerns within the College and are also responsible for championing child safeguarding within the College, and assisting in coordinating responses to child safety incidents.​

Uniform

One of my favourite films from the 1990’s film is The Shawshank Redemption.  Near the end of the film, the narrator reflects on the way in which Andy manages to escape without being noticed by the guards; he mentions, “I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a man's shoes?”  The reality is that the public do notice how students are dressed and I remind students and parents of the College’s expectations on wearing a clean, polished pair of shoes, reflecting a sense of pride in both yourself and your school.

Loan Uniforms

Parents are reminded that the College has a collection of spare loan uniforms that are available if there is an issue with their son’s regular uniform (e.g., split pants, torn shirt). A student who has an issue with their uniform should report to their Year Coordinator as soon as possible, and arrangements will be made to provide a loan item of clothing that can be worn and then returned to the College once it is no longer needed and after it has been washed.

 

Students who arrive at school wearing sports uniform should have a note from their parent/carer indicating the reason for being unable to wear normal uniform (e.g., uniform left at Co-curricular on the previous afternoon, split pants etc). They should also report to their Year Coordinator who will arrange for a loan uniform for them. These students must bring the rest of their College uniform, including shoes and socks, to school so they can change into it once the loan item has been borrowed.  Students still in sports uniform after Period 1 may have a consequence issued.

Resources for Parents

Further to the presentation provided at last evening’s P&F meeting, parents and students are invited to read the material in the following resources: 

Robert Simpson

Director of Wellbeing

 

Peer Support Program

This term, selected boys in Year 10 were given the role of Peer Support Leader. Peer Support is a program where Year 10 students interact with new Year 5 students who have commenced at the College and help them settle in and develop a rapport with an older mentor. The Leaders were given small groups of boys to meet and get to know. Throughout the program there was a meet and greet as well as five sessions:  Social, Emotional, Spiritual, Academic and Physical sessions. Each session is linked to the elements of the College's Wellbeing Framework and included activities specified towards the theme. 

 

Starting with the ‘Social session’ at the beginning of the Term, this enabled the leaders to help the Year 5 students "break the ice" between their fellow peers as well as with the Peer Support Leaders. This allowed for the Year 5’s to make a closer connection with their classmates and make friends in a new school. The next session consisted of activities targeting the aspect of emotion. In this session, the Peer Support Leaders taught the Year 5 students how to access the College Counsellor in case of any mental health concerns and learn about ways to handle difficult emotional situations. In Week 5, we had the Spiritual session where we discussed the virtue of gratitude and to be thankful for the things in life. This session allowed students to deepen their faith and learn more about it. We used platforms such as ‘Kahoot’ and other fun games to get the younger boys to participate in sessions such as the Academic session where the boys enjoyed some fun activities to do with numeracy, geography etc. The program concluded with the Physical session where the boys engaged in sports and other fun activities. It was a great way to end the term and establish concrete relationships. 

 

Although not easy at first, it was noticeable to see the progressive changes in the relationships and skills developed throughout the program for both Year 5 and Year 10 students.  Year 5 students developed more confidence in speaking in front of others and the Year 10 students developed leadership skills as they acted as role models and mentors over the various sessions. Both sets of students had a lot of fun getting to know each other and created long-lasting memories and relationships they will cherish for years to come. It doesn’t end here - Year 10 students will continue to act as mentors to the Year 5 students around the College and on the bus. We look forward to organising a catch-up session later in the year. 

Martin Quach and Justin Speranza

Year 10 Ambassadors