Assistant Principal's Report -Faith and Wellbeing

It has been a very positive start to the year for our students,  we are looking forward to and are excited about the year ahead.  Students have settled into their learning and we have held  a Whole School Assembly, House Assemblies and a range of activities to help with the transition and building of positive relationships as we start our year together.

Justin Duckett

Assistant Principal - Faith and Wellbeing

Pastoral Team

This year we have had a number of changes to our Pastoral Team.  We welcome Mrs Deirdre Hughes as the Chisholm Head of House and Ms Marjoleine Dekker as the McAuley Head of House.

Student Wellbeing

It is our desire to nurture the whole person at Nazareth College, physically, intellectually, spiritually, socially and emotionally.  One new initiative this year is to focus on a Virtue each week for the school community.  So far, we have had Open Mindedness,  Honesty and Order.  In our student Morning Notices the weekly Virtue is unpacked and in classrooms, on the yard and in all areas of school life staff are encouraged to look for opportunities to discuss this Virtue with students.  As a part of this Ms Jackie Kol and Ms Mirella Venturini  (Our Student Wellbeing Coordinators) will put in the Newsletter some tips for developing these Virtues further at home. These Virtues fit into a whole school approach to positive behaviour which we are developing this year with the goal of being more explicit in showing students what the positive behaviour we want looks like. Of course the Virtues also have a great place in our Catholic tradition and spirituality and bear great practical and spiritual fruit for those who practise them.

Opening of the School Year Mass

On Thursday 23 February, our College Community came together to celebrate the Opening of the School Year Mass.  At this Mass our New College Principal,  Mr Sam Cosentino, was commissioned as the fourth Principal of Nazareth College.   The staff and students made a pledge and the St Vincent de Paul College Conference were commissioned.  We prayed together and took time to invite God more deeply into the life of our Community in 2017 and give thanks for all we have been blessed with.

Ash Wednesday

Wednesday  1 March 2017  is the beginning of the Liturgical Season of Lent with Ash Wednesday. This will be celebrated with a Prayer Service and the distribution of the Ashes in Pastoral Groups during an extended morning Homeroom period.  There will be no meat in the canteen or in Food Tech on this day.

A Focus on Wellbeing

We are very excited to inform you about some exciting initiatives we are introducing to the community this year to complement our current wellbeing services.

Our explicit focus is on a positive, proactive approach to wellbeing.  A starting point is our 'Virtue of the Week'. Each week, our community will focus on the ideas of a particular Virtue. Students will discuss the Virtue each day in morning Pastoral time, exploring issues, ideas and life experiences where the Virtue enhances life. In our first week, the focus has been on open mindedness, being willing to open the mind to new ideas and experiences from which to learn and grow. The second week focused on honesty, and how important it is to our sense of self and our relationships with others. This week the focus is on order, where living an ordered life we avoid wasting our time searching for things or doing unimportant tasks, thereby reducing stress, avoiding distractions, and improving our health, both physically and mentally.

In our House Extended Pastoral Sessions this term, our focus in on goal setting and growth mindset. Students will examine their personal short, medium and long term goals in both their personal and school life, considering positive actions they can take to achieve these targets. Growth mindset is our understanding of our abilities, and whether we believe that our intelligence is fixed or can grow. A person with a growth mindset believes that most people who accomplish great things do so because they put in a lot of effort, practise their craft, and keep learning. We will be challenging our students in their learning to:

• Take on new challenges;
• Be curious and try new things;
• Approach risks and put yourself out of your comfort zone;
• Persist and keep working on difficult goals;
• Actively ask for feedback and seek out suggestions for improvement.

We encourage you to talk to your children about these ideas and how they might apply to their life outside of school as well.

Ms Jackie Kol

On behalf of the Wellbeing Team