MindMattersfor Students & Families

• Young Men's Health Forum
• Buddies not Bullies Bushwalk
• Mindmatters SPX Water Bottles
• 'Tuning into Teens' Workshop
• Boxercise

Young Men’s Health Forum

In Week 8 of Term 2, 15 members from the Year 9 Student Empowerment Team were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend The Young Men’s Health Forum run by Conviction Group. The Forum went for a full day and the group were spoken to by Anthony Minichiello (Resilience), Kathy Kelly (Violence and Mental Health) and Allan Sparkes (Leadership) among others.

This was a great chance for the Student Empowerment Team to interact with young men from other schools and share ideas, opinions and thoughts about very real issues in their lives. The boys represented the College proudly and came away from the day with a lot of ideas about what it means to be a young man in 2017  and with renewed vigour in leading by example amongst their peers at St Pius X College.  Pearls of wisdom that the students took away include:

• ‘Never give up! You only achieve things if you work hard at them’.  Stuart Dingley
• ‘Masculinity isn’t defined by violence’.  Gregor Dingley
• ‘It is not emasculating to talk about your feelings’.  Gregor Dingley
• ‘At this stage in your life, you do not understand the change you can make for the future.’ Adam Greenwood
• ‘Make the right choice’.  Michael Fakhoury

Mr B McBrearty

Men’s Health Forum 2017 (Adam Greenwood)

In Week 8 of Term 2 the Year 9 MindMatters team were invited to attend the 2017 Young Men’s Health forum. The day would consist of regular talks followed by group chats in which six or so kids from various schools expressed their opinion on the topic that had just been talked about by the speaker. We were really encouraged to express ourselves and communicate with others to get a bigger perspective of boys our age and what they feel regarding the topics.  Topics discussed include:

• Mental health
• The effects of positive and negative self-image
• Strength and how to use it
• Healthy relationships

All of these topics were thoroughly explained and evaluated by the leaders of the groups and discussed by the groups.  All of the boys thoroughly enjoyed the day and will take something away from it and apply it to their social and personal life in future times.

Men’s Health Forum 2017 (Samuel Walters)

The Men’s Health Forum presented by Conviction Group was certainly an enriching experience for all who attended. With the diverse array of presenters, there was something to be taken out of the day for everyone. A former NRL player with the Sydney Roosters, Anthony Minichello was extremely popular amongst the Year 9 boys and all appreciated his presentation on resilience. He outlined the various methods he has used to overcome major injuries in his life including a total overhaul of his lifestyle and diet. All the Pius boys that attended the forum walked out of the day feeling better equipped to face life’s challenges and more comfortable offering assistance to others. My group’s instructor gave us all a very important strategy which enables us to offer help to others who they think might be struggling with a mental illness. He mentioned to us the fact that there are plenty of ways to deal with physical injuries but not mental ones. We all feel very lucky to have been able to represent the College at such an informative event.

Buddies not Bullies Bushwalk

Sunday 10th September 2017

Save the date with advanced notice of our intention to hold our annual Buddies Not Bullies Bushwalk on Sunday 10th September from Acron Oval St Ives To Davidson Park (Roseville Bridge) for MindMatters, Peer Mentors, potential snowy hikers, parents and members of the wider SPX Community.  Further details will follow, or contact Mr Brannan or Mr Russo to express your interest in attending.

Mr S Brannan - Head of student Services

MindMatters SPX Water Bottles

Courtesy of the research and initiative of Ms Kugananthan’s Year 10 MindMatters Student Empowerment team, and timed to coincide with the “Laudato Si” inspired launch of our new Sustainability themed water refilling stations in the school playground, Stainless Steel Crested College water bottles will be available for purchase via Trybooking.  Details will be available in next week's Woodchatta.

Year 10 MindMatters students will be visiting homerooms over the coming weeks to advocate for pre orders of the student designed bottles which will then be delivered later in the Term.

Mr S Brannan - Head of student Services

Tuning into Teens Workshop

Please see the flyer below for information on 'Emotionally Intelligent Parenting'.

Mr R Russo - College Counsellor

Boxercise

A reminder that Boxercise is held every Thursday and Friday morning at 7.30am in the Junior School playground.  This MindMatters initiative provides friendship, fun and fitness to strengthen students’ resilience and general sense of wellbeing.  Classes are free to all students.

Mr R Russo - College Counsellor