Wellbeing and Positive Education.

Dear School Community, 

Welcome to the first Wellbeing and Positive Education newsletter for 2023.

It is with great pride and excitement that I announce the launch of our schools Positive Education program here at CESC in 2023.

Positive education is the combination of traditional education principles with the study of happiness and wellbeing. The purpose behind implementing the B+ve@CESC program is to create a school community where students and staff are feeling good and doing good. The feeling good is about cultivating resilience, healthy minds, vitality, emotional stability and a sense of connectedness to a community. The doing good is about caring for others, nurturing positive relationships, displaying acts of kindness and using ones skills and knowledge to contribute to society. The premise is, if we can work to make our students and staff feel good, they will in turn do good and thus improve the learning environment for the whole school community.

As part of the B+ve@CESC program our students will undertake a range of learning experiences implemented in the school curriculum and as stand alone presentations and workshops. I am excited to announce CESC has formed partnerships with The Resilience Project and The Reach Foundation, the purpose of these partnerships is to further enhance the schools ability to prepare our students for life both within and outside of school. Skills and knowledge they will be learning will equip them to be resilient, happy, optimistic and caring individuals ready to face the stressors of day to day life. 

If you would like to hear more information about the B+ve@CESC program please don't hesitate to contact me at the school.

The Wellbeing Team@CESC:

I would like introduce our wellbeing team to the wider school community. Our wellbeing team comprises of a mix of counsellors, mental health practitioners, psychologists, an African Community Liaison Officer and an Assistant Principal of Wellbeing and Positive Education.

Mr Paul Campbell - Assistant Principal Wellebing and Pos Ed.

Ms Nicole Price - Assistant Wellbeing Leader and Year 11/12 counsellor.

Ms Hannah Coburn - Year 9/10 Counsellor.

Mr Shaun Simpson - Mental Health Practitioner.

Mr Alan Yin - Years 7/8 counsellor.

Mr Sam Dzungayira - African Community Liaison Officer and student counsellor. 

We are also joined by two Headspace Psychologists Kellie and Carl.

For parents and guardians:

If you would like to make a referral for your son/daughter please don't hesitate to contact the wellbeing team. This can be done by either calling the school office and asking to be put through to the Wellbeing Centre or by emailing through a request to (paul.campbell@education.vic.gov.au). 

Please note every Monday we have the Doctors in Schools program at our college, students are able to book in for a regular visit to the GP and have the support of a fully qualified doctor and nurse free of charge (please note parents/guardians do not need to be present for the appointment). 

The year so far:

2023 will see the college have a school wide approach towards positive relationships and strengthening the mental wellbeing of both staff and students. The GEM principles of Gratitude, Empathy/Kindness and Mindfulness will be incorporated into the learning environments on a regular basis. With this focus we are working towards preventing mental ill health and encouraging students to undertake practices that will improve their happiness and resilience. I encourage all parents/guardians to support the school in this approach and discuss principles such as gratitude at home as a family. The benefits of partaking in positive discussions with your children on a daily basis are amazing.

Term 1 has seen the official launch of our positive education program, as part of the program our Year 7's were the first cohort to undertake their Reach Foundation workshop centred around 'connection'. The workshops were aimed to foster a connection between students through gaining an understanding of who their peers are and what values they share. Students were encouraged to be open, honest and vulnerable with each other to share their life experiences. It was incredibly powerful to watch our most junior students be brave and open up to each other in the manner they did, we hope the lessons learnt of the importance of forming and maintaining connections will stick with the cohort for years to come. The main message was to be kind and treat each other well as you never know what people could be going through in their lives away from school.

School Clubs:

The school clubs program consists of 22 different clubs, catering for a large range of students interests and hobbies. Clubs are ran during lunchtimes by staff and work to promote connectedness of peers to peers and students to teachers. 

The wellbeing team are proud to be running two lunchtime clubs this year, the Diversity Club and The Mind Ninjas Club.

Diversity Club is held every Tuesday lunch in OR04 and The Mind Ninjas Club is held every Friday lunchtime in room OP12.

Both clubs are in place to provide a safe, positive and welcoming environment for students to get together, form relationships and undertake a range of games and learning activities.