Student Wellbeing 

Chaplain's Chat

“Lest we Forget”

I spent a lovely weekend in Torquay as my husband was riding in the Otway Classic bike ride on Saturday.  While there we read about a re-enactment display that was to be put on at Barwon Park Mansion just out of Winchelsea.  This group were presenting displays relating to several different wars with a primary focus on WW1 given our closeness to The ANZAC day centenary.

As I stood beside a row of trenches that had been dug to represent the trenches on Gallipoli, I watched soldiers preparing to represent the Australian and Turkish troops just prior to the Battle of ‘The Nek’, readying themselves much as the soldiers 100 years ago would have been doing.  A young boy in front of me asked, “Are these the ‘goodies’ and are those over there the baddies?”.  His mother replied, “Well that really depends on your point of view.”      Doesn’t that just say it all?

As a lay student of history I have read and researched quite a bit about the social and political lead up to WW1 and the direct impact 

of individual and national insecurities and hubris.  In the light of the consequences of their choices and actions; untold death and devastation, these are behaviours that we need to be extremely mindful of.

Yes “Lest we Forget” all those who suffered and died, but also “Lest we Forget” the potential consequences of our own choices and actions and the choices and actions of those we impact.

As I participate in the remembrances surrounding the 100th anniversary this April 25th I am hopeful that we may tell each other, tell our friends and tell our children about the importance of valuing ‘the other’, of putting aside our self-righteousness, our pride, our anger and our self justification to see things from the others point of view and to try to respect their journey.

WW1 recounts truces at various times; the Christmas truce, the truce at Gallipoli to bury the dead and how the opposing soldiers met and discovered something of each other’s humanity and of their life. Let’s work toward creating that understanding in the way we treat others and in how we model our disappointments and anger with our children, so that we can build for them a world where we no longer have to create remembrances for those who have had to pay the ultimate price.                            

Lest we Forget!

 Gill Van Der Ende

Chaplain

MPower Girls

Our Year 5 and 6 girls have been participating in the 'MPower' Program. These weekly 1 hour sessions (run over 8 weeks) seek to encourage students to talk about what it means to be a girl and to discuss what happens in their friendship groups and how this affects them.

Girls work together to discuss and resolve problems and issues within the group using props and activities and creating visual ideas on which to base their discussions.

The purpose of the program is to:

- Reveal and explore the nature of girls

- Better understand girls' relationships and practice new ways of relating

- Develop the confidence to express feelings openly and honestly

It has been terrific to see the girls actively engaging in all of the activities and discussions. They have also enjoyed using their MPower reflection journals to record their learning, ideas and experiences. Please ensure that these are brought to each MPower session.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about the MPower program then please don't hesitate to come and see me. I am available every Monday and Thursday and every second Friday.

Kate Thomson

Student Wellbeing Coordinator