Wellbeing and Engagement
Year 7 to 9 Celebration Assembly
On Tuesday 22 June, we recognised the achievements of our Year 7 to 9 students in living our College values at a Celebration Assembly. During the Assembly, Student Leaders from Year 7 to 9 spoke with authenticity about their reflections of Semester 1 and the opportunity it provided to strengthen connections, pursue passions, embark on new adventures, have fun and create a sense of belonging. Congratulations to all students that were involved in the assembly, in particular the following Student Leaders who delivered empowering presentations:
- Hosts: Nyrie Bedekian and Gabrielle Smyth
- Prayer: Emilia Drozdz, Olivia Murphy, Alicia Noble, Angelina Delvecchio and Eve Elliott
- SRC Leaders: Annabelle Chapman, Zoe Fitzgerald and Maya Johnstone
- Community Action Leaders: Bridgette Veneris and Lola Martin
- Sustainability Leaders: Chloe Davis, Elke Madlener and Caitlyn Singleton
- Health and Wellbeing Leader: Aline Boyadjian
- Living Justice Leaders: Emily Smith and Mia Espinosa
During the assembly, we recognised students from Year 7 to 9 who were acknowledged by their Homeroom teacher as consistently living our College values of Courage, Compassion, Hope, Hospitality, Justice and Wonder. Congratulations to the following students who were recognised for these prestigious awards:
Raising Body Confident Children and Teens
It was wonderful that many parents and carers joined us online on Monday 21 June for our Parent Webinar ‘Raising body confident children and teens.’ Body image is consistently reported as one of the top three concerns for young people according to the 2020 Mission Australia survey.
During this engaging presentation, Nicki Isaacs from the Butterfly Foundation, Australia’s leading not for profit eating disorders and body image organisation, discussed the impact that COVID-19 has had on body image. For example, the decreased volume of training and competition that young people were unable to complete has for some had a negative impact on their thoughts and feelings.
Nicki highlighted strategies that parents and carers could adopt to promote body image such as:
- Listen attentively to young people when they raise concerns about their thoughts and feelings.
- Encourage young people to challenge negative thoughts and consider three positive things about their body rather than a negative.
- Focus on the functionality of the body and not the aesthetics. For example, my heart allows me to love or my legs allow me to travel to new places.
- Challenge body comparison tendencies.
- Build resilience.
- Promote and encourage positive behaviours and attitudes. For example, “I am enough.”
- Strengthen young people’s social media literacy skills and support them to curate their feeds, recognise triggers and empower them to embrace their individuality.
- Change society’s narrative away from one that focuses on appearance.
- Develop a positive attitude to health seeking behaviours.
The Butterfly National Helpline is a free confidential service for anyone who has body image issues or is seeking information about eating disorders. They can be contacted on 1800 336 473.
The College Counselling Team is also available to support parents/carers and young people who may be experiencing a decline in their mental health. Please feel free to contact them during school hours.
Stephanie Smyth
Assistant Principal:
Wellbeing and Engagement