We R-OK

RUOK? Day-September 8th 2022

The Wellbeing team with the support of the Student Leadership team, celebrated RUOK Day with a lunchtime festival. 

At Bluff road, the students were treated to a 'throw the sponge at the teachers' game', as well as an ice cream van, staff v students soccer, guess the lollies in the jar, and a lovely performance by the music students. 

Over at Holloway road campus, there was an ice cream van and a spectacular performance from our VCE music students, as well as an extremely competitive staff v students netball game, proudly taken out by the staff. 

The day was meaningful in the ways people could build connection through joining in activities and spending time with friends. It was great to see many people asking the question "are you okay?" and inviting honest, real and supportive conversations for each other. 

The wellbeing team encourages you to continue to check in with your friends, because a conversation can change a life. 

As we embark on the end of year with our final term, we thought we would bring to your attention the upcoming groups and events being held at Bluff Road Junior Campus for Term Four, as we prepare to finish the year off on a positive note.

Rainbow Club:

Rainbow Club is back for Term Four, not only just a safe place where our LGBTIQA+ this is where we not only celebrate our LGBTIQA+ community, but also allow them to have a voice in celebrating gender diversity through planning initiatives and events within the school community. 

When: Every second Tuesday from the 11th of October

Where: Bluff campus Room C2, Holloway road food tech dining room

 Sleep presentation

The Bluff Rd Wellbeing Team will be presenting to all Year 8 students about the importance of sleep and its impact on brain development and cognition. With exams upcoming, the team will highlight the importance of sleep routine and how it can improve study habits and promote a healthy lifestyle.

When: Tuesday, 11th of October

Wellbeing Day – 12th/13th of December 

The Wellbeing team will be conducting wellbeing activities for the Year 7 and 8 cohort to finish the school year on a positive note and to celebrate the completion of another school year at Sandringham College. These activities will have an emphasis on improving wellbeing and mindfulness of students, including arts and crafts, yoga, meditation and much more.

Where: Bluff Road Campus

To accompany the outlined events above, the Wellbeing Team are working hard behind the scenes in developing programs to enhance the wellbeing and welfare of the junior cohort. These programs are targeted towards a range of social issues facing adolescents at the Bluff Rd campus, we hope the delivery of such programs enhances the selected student’s connection to school, engagement with school and learning, increase social connection and skills and promote pro social behaviour.

Supporting Your Child with Exam Stress

Whether it be Year 12 exams, Year 7-10 tests or Year 11 SACs, managing stress related to assessments nearing the end of the year is never easy an easy task. So what is it that can be done to assist your child to manage and hopefully decrease their stress levels? 

First and foremost, what we see time and time again in Wellbeing is that the students who are most disorganised (and behind), often feel the most overwhelmed and an ongoing sense of anxiety around this time. Unfortunately this often leads to disrupted sleep and concentration, which perpetuates the cycle. Meanwhile, the students who are more organised, tend to feel a greater sense of control and therefore feelings of calm. So offering to support your child by talking through and “breaking down” their tasks, can be really helpful. This can be done by sitting down with them and: 

• Printing off a calendar for them specifically for their exam/testing/assessment period. 

• Writing down the dates of assessments with them so they can visualise how much time they have infront of them before the assessment. 

• Listing the areas of study they need to be familiar with for each subject and which areas they need to spend the most time on. 

• Discussing which days and times they would dedicate to the different areas of study. 
• Encouraging the incorporation of “help days” where they may sit with their friends or peers to ask questions, or organise a time to ask to their teacher. 
• Keep checking in with how they are travelling with their study plans. 

Sitting down with your child in this way can really help them feel a stronger sense of support and therefore implicitly assist in the reduction of stress. 

Following supporting them to “break down” their study tasks, it can be helpful to assist them to talk through and break down other aspects, outside of the classroom, that are contributing to their feelings of stress and overwhelm. As when these other aspects are also broken down and if you will, “organised” in their mind, their stress can further reduce. 

“For every minute spent organising, an hour is earned”- Benjamin Franklin.

Finally, through assisting them to be organised and break down their mental load, it is hoped that they could spend less time stressing (and likely procrastinating), have more valuable and productive study time, and therefore more time to themselves. It can then be helpful to encourage your child to engage in activities considered as beneficial to relaxing the mind and nervous system, even just for exam periods, including meditation, yoga, exercise and socialising with their friends. Hopefully it then may catch on! 

What’s happening in the community this month? 

Thriving Teens - Mindfulness Based Wellbeing Program | Bayside City Council

Bayside city council is offering a free, 4-week mindfulness-based program aimed to empower teens aged 12-15. Follow the link to find out more! 

Fright Night | Bayside City Council

Calling all Halloween lovers! Join The Bayside FReeZA team for a hair raising spooktacular for young and old hosted at Billilla Mansion on Saturday 29 October. Explore the grounds of the historic house with your family and friends and enjoy Halloween themed activities!

Spring Fair - City of Kingston

Enjoy a family-fun day out at the Spring Fair on Saturday, 22 October at Clayton South’s Keely Park. There will be range of free activities including amusement rides, giant games, workshops and live music. 

Youth Art Exhibition | Glen Eira City Council

Hosted by Glen Eira City Council’s Youth Event and Leadership Team, this event recognises and encourages young people’s creativity and passion for art, encompassing the best parts of the Glen Eira community. Exhibition open now until 23rd October!