Student Services : Wellbeing 

Welcome to 2023!

Happy New Year to all our wonderful students, families, staff, and community. We hope you had an enjoyable summer break and are feeling ready for an exciting year ahead. A particularly special welcome to the year 7 cohort. We hope you enjoy it here as much as we all do! We are looking forward to working together and celebrating all things health and wellbeing in 2023.

Just in case you are new to the school community or need a reminder of who supports student wellbeing at Northcote High School, here is a list of our team names and roles (more information to come next newsletter):

Head of Student Services: Leanne Petroff

Wellbeing Coordinator (Years 8, 9, and 10): Megan Simmons

Wellbeing Coordinator (Years 7, 11, and 12): Sabatinie Balasooriya

Mental Health Practitioner: Jane Harrison

Secondary School Nurse: Tess Hodgins-Parry

Welcome to our two new staff

Jacinta Walsh“I am thrilled to be working with the Student Services team this year as an Integration Aide and am eager to get to know everyone over the coming months! Beyond working at Northcote, I am also completing my Master of Teaching at ACU this year, with teaching areas in English and Media. Prior to being in the education space, I worked in publishing as an editor and contributor. I still enjoy writing in my downtime, as well as reading (I’m prone to having a few books on the go at once!)Outside of work, I am a keen swimmer and knitting enthusiast. I love a crafternoon and am currently working on a knitted blanket – my biggest project to date! Will I stick with it? Who knows!? I am also part of a pub trivia team that competes every Thursday night. We’ve been unstoppable lately, so only attempt to take us on if you dare!”

Tom McKenzie “I am a new member of the Education Support team this year. My interests include travel, camping, cricket, and football. I have experience working with young people as a sports coach and a VCE lecturer. I am keen to keep building these skills whilst working with students at NHS. I am looking forward to getting to know the students and teachers I’ll be working with and am excited for the year ahead.” 

Student Voice:  Clubs

We will be holding a “Club Fair” at some point early this term. If you have any ideas for a club you would like to be involved in, we would love to hear from you! Please see Sabatinie or Megan in M11. We will provide more information in the coming weeks.

External Parenting Courses

Berry Street Family Services is offering Tuning in to Teens (parenting program) once more in Term 1. It will run on Tuesdays from 11am – 1pm for 6 consecutive weeks, beginning on 12th February and finishing on 28th March. They are delivering the group online, via Zoom. The group is facilitated by 2 Family Services case managers, and will cap the group at approximately 8 participants.

For those of you that may be unfamiliar with the group program, here are some key features and benefits:

• Interactive evidence-based parenting program developed by child and adolescent psychologists from the University of Melbourne.
• Sessions are built around group discussion, activities, and some roleplays where caregivers reflect on their parenting and practice the strategy of Emotion Coaching, sharing their experiences with the group.
• Supports caregivers to better attune to their teen’s emotions and support them with these through Emotion Coaching.
• Supports caregivers to teach their teens how to better manage their emotions.
• Can reduce isolation for caregivers through peer support.
• Helps to prevent or reduce behaviour problems in teens through a more connected relationship with the caregiver.
• Helps promote resilience in teens.