Wellbeing News

2020 Wellbeing Team

Glen Eira College is excited to be part of the Department of Education and Training (DET) Mental Health Practitioner (MHP) initiative. This initiative supports our school to employ a Mental Health Practitioner for 3 days a week.

 

We are very pleased to announce that Mr Stanley Cheng has been appointed as the GEC Mental Health Practitioner – welcome Stanley. He will be at GEC Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday each week.

 

As a member of the team Stanley will be involved in the development and implementation of proactive programs to develop student wellbeing and build staff capability, with a key focus on mental health.

 

In addition to the proactive program work, Stanley is able to provide a short-term general counselling service that helps students develop tailored strategies to enhance their wellbeing.

 

There is more great news for student support at GEC! Students will also have access to a Headspace clinician on Fridays through the DET Enhancing Mental Health in Schools Program (EMHS).

 

Students and parents should contact Wellbeing Leader Jenny Sanchez if they would like to discuss accessing the MHP or the EMHS counselling service. Please note, referral and consent documentation will be required prior to counselling service commencement.

 

WELLBEING TEAM MEMBERS

  • Stanley Cheng Mental Health Practitioner – Monday to Wednesday
  • Christalia Formoso Adolescent Health Nurse – Tuesday and Thursday
  • Alyssa Zumbo Student Support Worker – Monday to Friday
  • Jenny Sanchez Wellbeing Leader – Monday to Friday

FRIENDS Program

All Year 7 students at Glen Eira College completed the “My Friends Youth Program” at the start of this term. This program was created to assist young people to build resilience, self-esteem and confidence, to learn important life skills and techniques to prevent and manage anxiety and depression. The program ran for 90 minutes a day for two weeks.

 

Members of the Department of Education student support officers (SSS) and adolescent health nurses trained in the program ran the sessions with support of class teachers and members of the wellbeing team.

 

Each student will have access to an online activity book with skills and information covered in the program. You can access this with your child to practice the strategies taught at school. An email will be sent to Year 7 parents after the Year 7 camp explaining how to access the online resource.

 

The skills and strategies developed in the Friends program will continue to be built upon at school through the Health curriculum, the TEAM program and with class teachers. This program will continue to be a partnership with our students, their families and our GEC staff.

 

 

A very big thank you to all the parents who were able to attend the Year 7 parent evening which included a presentation on the Friends program.

 

On completion of the Friends program students were asked to identify the three most positive aspects of the program.The following comments are a small sample of the student responses.

 

"I learnt how to work together

About how we can be calm

About how we can be positive"

 

"Games to keep us engaged

Learned coping strategies

Interesting conversations"

 

 "It helped me with resilience, friendship and relaxing.

I loved how we interacted with the activities."

 

"I enjoyed getting to know my class better :)"

 

"It was engaging, I got to learn new things about my classmates and I learnt some good life habits."

 

"Emoji game, getting to know my class, creating a stronger bond with friends."

 

"I got to know my classmates and the people around me.

How to change unhelpful thoughts into helpful thoughts."

 

"I learnt how to control emotion, make ourselves more positive and be happy.

I also learnt how to have good teamwork

Interactivity, Freedom of Choice & The Calm Approach."

 

"I learnt to talk positive to myself and be more comfortable with myself.

I got to know my classmates more.

Change unhelpful thoughts to helpful ones."

 

"I liked the activities that involved role play

The sensory activity was great

I liked the breaks /games"

 

"Three things that stuck out in friends program:

How to cope with hard situations

what to do in a troubling decision

how to be empathetic to people less fortunate"

 

"How to be empathetic

how to keep calm

how to cope"

 

"The 3 things that stuck out to me in the FRIENDS program were the positive coping strategies because now, if I'm feeling down anywhere, I can take a look at the motivational comments on the tree in our homeroom."

 

"The bullying class also stuck out to me because now I understand that there are different types of bullying. The final thing that stuck out to me was the SMART goal because I could write down a goal and try to accomplish the goal in my given time using the steps written by us."

 

"Learning multiple things about bullying, friendship and learning to deal with hard or complex situations."

 

"1. Meditating and relaxing

2. Trying to cope with situations good and bad

3. Understanding different situations where you must be empathetic and resilient"

Year 12 Lifestyle Checks

Managing to maintain a healthy lifestyle during VCE can be a challenge. Balancing the demands of study with the need to ensure they take care of their wellbeing can sometimes be stressful, impacting negatively on all aspects of a student’s life.

 

Beginning in week five of term 1 Christalia, Alyssa and Stanley, supported by Laura Brancatella, will deliver a preventative health promotion program for all Year 12 students called “Lifestyle checks”.  The program requires students to self-audit in the area of health and wellbeing, particularly in the areas of stress, anxiety, nutrition, sleep, exercise and social activities.

 

 The program aims to highlight the students’ strengths and to identify areas in need of improvement. Students are provided with strategies and options for support to assist them should it be required at any time throughout their Year 12 studies.

 

 Students participate in small groups of 4-6, allowing the opportunity to increase engagement and encourage plenty of discussion.

 

The program and health educational resources are all evidence based information from Headspace and Beyondblue.

 

A special thank you to Christalia who developed the Lifestyle checks program.

Wellbeing Hub

If you are interested in finding out more about Wellbeing then access the DET Wellbeing Hub on the link below.

 

This is a space for educatorsparents and students to build safe, inclusive and connected school communities that promote wellbeing and learning.

https://studentwellbeinghub.edu.au/parents/

 

 

Welcome, parents

This is your space, where you can find information and advice about important topics like bullying, online safety, communicating with your child and the school, and much more, to help you make your child’s learning journey a safe and positive one.

 

Happy reading!

 

Jenny Sanchez

Wellbeing Leader