Student Wellbeing

Uniform Update

As we approach Term 2 and the colder part of the year, we remind all students that we now wear the winter uniform and the following expectations are in place.

Students should wear either the school skirt or the school pants.
Students are able to wear either blue tights or long white socks with their winter skirt. Students who wear the school pants must wear an emblemed shirt as well.
Hoodies are not part of the uniform. For example, they are not to be worn under the PE uniform.
PE uniform should only be worn on the days that students have practical PE classes.
Students who do not study PE are not to wear the PE uniform.

Health Concerns

We continue to be challenged by COVID and while in Australia we have returned to life that is almost back to normal we remind all members of our community that we should continue to practice the key aspects of health protection that we have learned over the last 2 years. This includes staying home and getting tested if you are feeling unwell or presenting any of the symptoms , for example, a runny nose or cough. Also continuing to practice good hygiene practices such as washing hands and using hand sanitiser frequently and not sharing items such as food utensils with others. We also remind you that winter is a challenging time of the year in relation to other infections such as influenza and other airborne diseases.

It is important that when sneezing do so into your elbow or a tissue. Wash hands when going to the toilet and before touching food. Also, as we share the school with another 900 people every day, that we are doing our best to stay as healthy and keep our community safe as well.

Peer Support begins for Year 7’s

At the beginning of Term 2 we will begin our Peer Support Program with our Year 7’s. We have a large number of Year 10’s that are in the process of training and who will be ready to support our youngest Year Level in feeling settled and supported in our school environment. This has never been more important given the last two years our young people have endured. In later editions of the Marian, we will give you an insight into how the program is going.

O DAY – Monday 28th March

On Monday of last week, our student leaders and co-curricular groups hosted our annual O-DAY where all students and groups have the ability to advertise their particular interest, what they do when the club meets as well as seek new members. We encourage all students to join any group that interests them including the social justice groups such as the Justice and Democracy Forum that so closely aligns with our core values – particularly that of JUSTICE and HOSPITALITY.

Wellbeing Initiative

One of the recommendations that came out of our School Review in 2021 was in relation to examining wellbeing data and identifying students who may need extra support through these challenging times. With this in mind we will be trialing a new initiative in Term 2 with our Year 9 and 10 students. This program, called PULSE, has students completing a 60 second survey each week and this will allow us to find out where students are at, how they are travelling from a wellbeing perspective and identify those students that may need some follow up and extra support.

We will carry out the trial for all of Term 2 and then evaluate whether this is a program that we can use with the whole school to monitor how are students are travelling and what extra support they may need. We will keep you informed of how the trial progresses over Term 2.

Wellbeing

During Term 2 Year 7 and 9 students will participate in NAPLAN. Furthermore all students will experience and increase in assessments. We encourage our families to monitor their daughter’s in terms of the stress and any concerns that may arise. Responses can vary from being quiet, to tears to even changes in behaviour. If you have any concerns in relation to this please do not hesitate to contact your daughter’s homeroom teacher or Year Level Leader. In this way issues can be addressed and strategies can be put in place to support each and every one of our students.

Kerrie Williams

Assistant to the Principal – Student Wellbeing