Wellbeing News 

Meet the Team

The wellbeing team comprises of Celine Tsang, the Student Wellbeing Leader/ Counsellor, and Fosia Mohamud, the Mental Health Practitioner. We have enjoyed getting to know and supporting the young people of WHSC in 2022. We are excited to continue to provide a safe space where student wellbeing and mental health is supported and advocated for.

My name is Celine Tsang. I joined the WHSC Wellbeing team at the start of Term 3 in 2022 as Counsellor and have stepped into the wellbeing leader role. I have a Masters in Counselling with Victoria University, and am a registered counsellor with the Australian Counsellor Association. I have worked with several schools and assisted students with their mental health. My favourite color this year is grey-blue, I speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese, I still love spicy food, I still love dogs, come say hi.

I believe in autonomy, honesty, and non-judgment. We offer a safe space for students to explore their emotions and vulnerability. All feelings are acceptable, and there is no such thing as “you shouldn’t feel that way”, but rather what you wanna do about it. Organise yourself a time with us to see what strategies work for you the best 😊

My name is Fosia Mohamud. I Joined the WHSC team at the end of term three in 2021 as the Mental Health Practitioner (MHP). I am a qualified Social Worker and have worked in various settings over the last 10 years in the Health and Public Service Sectors. 

I prefer tea (with ginger) over coffee and love anything salted caramel. I’m enjoying working at WHSC in a role that focuses on mental health in the school setting, where early intervention can be facilitated. I strongly believe everyone has the key to good mental health; sometimes, we just need a guiding hand to access that key. 

In addition to providing counselling and support to students, I also oversee wellbeing initiatives and targeted programs at the school. We encourage students and staff to be involved in mental health awareness as a whole school approach. Students and staff are welcome to reach out to me to find out how they can be involved. 

New Wellbeing Space and Referral Process

We have revamped the wellbeing space and our new location is between the canteen and staff room. All students are welcome. 

Parents can contact the Learning and Wellbeing Leader (previously known as the Year Level Coordinators) to discuss any wellbeing concerns and the referral process. 

As a first point of contact, students are encouraged to raise any wellbeing concerns with their teachers and the Learning and Wellbeing Leaders for referrals. Students can also self-refer for wellbeing support via the student referral form-see the below link. Referral forms can also be accessed via the wellbeing office, which is open to all students. Wellbeing staff will be in touch with students as soon as possible. 

We encourage all parents and students to flag any wellbeing concerns early, so we can provide early intervention. Counselling sessions are confidential between students and the wellbeing team; unless there are any safety risks are identified. 

I AM Mindful Event 

This term WHSC wellbeing team partnered with the City of Monash School Focus program to deliver a series of I Am Mindful workshops for a number of our students from year 8-12 cohorts. I Am Mindful (I.A.M) is a prevention-focused school program designed to help young people and their families learn mental health coping strategies. Students also received a tool kit to use at school and at home. The program taught students how to cope with tough times in a healthy, fun, and evidence-based way.

In addition to the student workshops, the program was also delivered to parents and staff to enhance a whole school approach to supporting our students with their mental health and encouraging them to use the strategies learnt in the workshops at home and at school. 

The sessions were fun and interactive where students responded and engaged positively. 

Below are some student reflections:

 “The most useful thing I learnt at the workshops is how to understand when I’m feeling stressed and how to get out of feeling that way.”

How I’ve used the tool kit: “I’ve used the lavender oil and breathing technique learnt in the session to help calm my nerves when I had to go out on my own. It helped me massively!”

 “I’ve learnt that it’s normal/ ok to feel bad sometimes and that I’m not weird because of it.  And everyone goes through something; it might be similar to your situation.”

Looking after your mental health and staying safe over the holidays

As term one comes to an end and we enter into the holidays, we want to give you some resources to take with you to ensure you are taking care of yourselves and each other. Remembering that wellbeing encompasses many different elements and we need to tend to each element in order for our tree to thrive.

Image from: https://headspace.org.au/yarn-safe/mental-health-and-wellbeing/

The Department of Education have provided a wonderful resource for parents and carers regarding wellbeing support for students during the school holidays, which can be found here. It covers:

• Actions that support positive mental health
• Signs a child or young person may need mental health support
• Mental health support resources
• Family violence support and resources
• Self‑harm and suicide prevention resources

If you have any questions about Mental Health resources or would like any particular Mental Health theme to be covered in the wellbeing newsletter; please feel free to get in touch with Fosia-our Mental Health Practitioner- fosia.mohamud@education.vic.gov.au

We hope you all have a lovely and safe term break and we look forward to reconnecting with students in Term 2.