Student Services

Welcome to 2020!  It’s great to be back and getting straight into business. 

I hope that students and families have enjoyed the Christmas / New Year break, but I take this opportunity to acknowledge that many Victorians have suffered devastating loss in the recent bushfires.  If you or your child are finding it emotionally difficult to cope, please be aware of these support services, available 24/7

• eheadspace https://headspace.org.au/assets/Uploads/ONLINE-SERVICES.pdf  
• Kids Help Line https://kidshelpline.com.au/  (1800 55 1800
• Lifeline https://www.lifeline.org.au/ (13 11 14

Also, please have a look at this useful resource from Headspace

https://headspace.org.au/young-people/how-to-cope-with-the-stress-of-natural-disasters/

Wellbeing Team

We warmly welcome Harlin Gandhok and Jacqueline Binns to our wellbeing team.  Harlin and Jacqueline both come with experience working as student counsellors/case managers in secondary schools in the south-east of Victoria.  Harlin and Jacqueline are both full-time so please feel free to drop into the Wellness Centre (A1) to introduce yourself and have a chat with them.  Both Harlin and Jacqueline will also be working with the careers / pathway team as they are studying a Graduate Certificate in Career Development through RMIT.

We welcome back Cindy Zevallos and our youth worker, the newly married Alisha Gibson.  Congratulations Alisha!   Sara Gabriel has worked at the College for years, in an evolving role.  We are really pleased to welcome Sara to the wellbeing team, in a specialist role.  Sara is the Program Manager for the Resilience and Social Thinking Programs.  Both of these small group programs are considered crucial in developing resilience in our young people and students’ participation in these programs is by referral only.    The team will be working hard to support all of our students and will be involved in delivering many programs across the school, including some fun lunchtime activities.

We received some great news from the Department of Education regarding our Breakfast Club and as from Term 2, 2020 will receive food from the Victorian Food Bank.  During Term 1, 2020 breakfast club will run each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from the Maker Space and we welcome back Chris, our long-term Manager and Alisha Gibson our Youth Worker who will make sure students leave with a full belly!

Just a reminder that we will have the City of Casey 360 bus visiting us on 13/2, 28/2 and 20/3.

A few of the wellbeing team members will be heading down to the Year 7 (Explore) camp and are looking forward to hanging out and have some fun with our new students.

Just a reminder that we remain fortunate to have the valuable services of Mr Julian Couzins, Psychologist and Ms Mel Kemper, Psychologist from Oz Child who provide counselling to students under the Medicare Mental Health Care Plan.    We are also supported by Maddy from Foundation House who can provide 1:1 support for students from a refugee background.  If you would like more information about supporting your child, please call ( 8795 9400 and ask for the wellbeing team.

Careers Team

I am delighted to announce our new Careers / Pathway team!  We warmly welcome, Lisa Benporath, who is joining us from a neighbouring secondary college. Lisa is a big asset to our team and she is looking forward to bringing a fresh approach and new ideas to the school.  Tee Kruse has a new role within the team as VASS/VET/VCAL Administrator and Careers Assistant.  Tee has years of experience and knowledge working at Hampton Park SC and she is currently studying a Graduate Certificate in Career Development through the CEAV, after being awarded a Department of Education & Training scholarship.  Tee is role modelling to students, that learning is life-long and I’m sure she will be able to empathise with students on the challenges of meeting deadlines with her assessments 😊 Congratulations on your scholarship Tee, it is well deserved! 

The new team are currently planning many exciting programs.  Our careers program will be delivered to all students from Explore, Enhance and Excel years (years 7 to 12) throughout the year.  The careers team are located in the CRC and we have an open-door policy.  All students and parents/carers will receive a regular Careers Newsletter, which will be full of important and useful information for students to gain knowledge about post-school options.  Our first priority is to meet individually with every Year 12 student to develop a Career Action Plan and discuss their pathway in 2021 and this will happen early in Term 1.

Please feel free to drop in to chat to the Careers / Pathway team and if you would like more information about career options, please call ( 8795 9400 and ask for the careers team

Inclusion Team

We are very fortunate at Hampton Park Secondary College to now have the services of a full-time school-based Speech Pathologist.  We warmly welcome Mr Amon Alas to the College, working to support the Inclusion, Literacy Teams and building the capacity of our teaching staff.  We look forward to his enthusiasm, vision and experience in improving engagement and academic outcomes for our students.   We also welcome a new member of the Inclusion team, Denise West.

The Inclusion team was successful with an application to the Department of Education regarding Equipment Boost Funding.  We will be utilising the counselling rooms in the Wellness Centre to be set up as sensory rooms and this is scheduled to be finalised by the end of term 1.

During Term 4, 2019 we organised a parent/carer forum for the NDIS.  Just a reminder that if you would like to talk about submitting an application for your child who has a disability, please contact:-

• Latrobe Community Health Service 1800 242 696
• NDIA 1800 800 110
• Translating & Interpreting Service 1800 131 450

We will have a follow up forum during Semester 1, and further details will be forwarded to parents/carers of students who are funded under the Program for Students with a Disability (PSD).

If your child is receiving additional funding under the PSD program, please be aware that Student Support Group meetings will commence at the end of February.  You will be contacted by a member of the Inclusion team to organise a meeting for your child.

If you have any questions about the PSD program or inclusion of your child within HPSC, please contact the school on ( 8795 9400 and ask for an Inclusion Leader, Natalie Rule or Cassie Truscott.