Student and Family Wellbeing

Well Term 3 definitely went off with a bang, or should I say it was a slow start. We only were able to enable face to face with our wonderful student for 5 days before we returned to online learning. However in this time many students presented at wellbeing to say hi, have a chat and ask for support which was wonderful.

Week 3 saw the return of our students which is wonderful, I did comment to staff that students are presenting with a happiness about them with being at school which was amazing to see.

WELLBEING TEAM & AVAILABILITY

Tanya Vella Student Wellbeing Manager: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri

Janan Allouche Adolescent Health Nurse: Mon, Tues

Beverley Hardi Chaplain: Tues, Wed, Fri

Jazmin Pursell Mental Health Practitioner: Thurs, Fri

Kadriye Kurt Multicultural Aid: Mon- Th

Anna Poci Education Support: Mon-Fri

Shashi Patt Education Support Mon-Fri

MONASH UNIVERISTY - MASTERS OF COUNSELLING STUDENT PLACEMENT

We welcome Maddy Carlucci to the team from the 2nd August to the 10th September on Mon, Tues, Thurs and Friday.

Maddy is a qualified youth worker developing her skills in counselling. Currently, Maddy volunteers as a telephone counsellor on Griefline and also supports children and young people with contact with their families.

Maddy will be providing students at JFC with short term intervention counselling. If you are interested in your child receiving support from Maddy please contact Tanya to make a referral.

PROGRAM / WORKSHOPS FOR TERM 3

Chin Up Project- Friday Males year 7 to year 10

Nourish to Flourish- Monday Year 9 and 10 Females

Caring for Self Whilst Caring for Others- Tuesday ( Brotherhood of St Laurence)

Caring Teens Year 8 and Year 7 group Friday

PARENT WORKSHOP

Anglicare Parentzone are proud to present the "Dealing with Feelings" workshop for the parents and carers of John Fawkner College.

Please rsvp to Tanya if you would like to attend.

MORELAND CITY COUNCIL

The Moreland City Council have met with JFC in relation to developing and collaborating an approach to supporting students of the college.

The following areas will be focused upon:

Lunch time activities for the students
Workshops and Programs delivered within the school for year levels around topics and educational needs based on wellbeing.
Building relationships between students and the youth support services at the council.

In the next few weeks on a Thursday from 3:00pm to 5:30pm the council will be facilitating a drop in/ activity afternoon at the Council Community Rooms next door to the school. Tanya will be attending these sessions, so if there are any students that would like to come along please let Tanya know.

https://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/living-in-moreland/community-services/youth/oxygen-youth-space/

Free drop-in sessions at Oxygen Youth Space 4/8 Gaffney St Coburg .

Mondays to Fridays from 3pm to 5pm (this session is for young people between 12 and 18 years old)

PROACTIVE VICTORIA POLICE TEAM

Students may have mentioned of late that there has been some police presence at the school. Please don't be alarmed by this as the members of the local Proactive Team have reached out and want to be a presence within the school to develop

a relationship and rapport with the students.
offer support and education where needed
build better links between the students and police.
work and support students in a preventative manner.

OTHER NEWS

Just a reminder that referrals to the wellbeing team can be made by - Students, Teachers/ Staff and Parents.

Breakfast Club continues to run every Tuesday morning. We are working on breakfast being offered to students more than 1 morning per week.

State School Relief: If you require financial assistance with school uniform or books please contact the wellbeing team whom can help in this area.

COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS OF INTEREST

Guide to popular apps

Learn how to help young people safely use popular apps including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.

This webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 8-13.

It will cover:

an explanation of the popular apps used by young people
case studies, research, and targeted advice
ways you can support the young people in your life to have safe, enjoyable online experiences.

Monday 16 August 12.30 to 1.30 pm

Tuesday 31 August 7.30 to 8.30 pm

To register go to https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars

WEBSITES OF INTEREST

E safety Commissioner https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

Online Safety Book

This book covers some of the key online safety issues for young people and includes a range of practical tips and advice on what to do if things go wrong. You can also find a list of important services that can offer extra support

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/online-safety-book

Emerging Minds

This toolkit contains resources that will assist practitioners and parents and carers to support children’s mental health during pandemic events such as COVID-19. It contains videos, fact sheets, podcasts and guides and includes information about what to expect and how to help children and families cope.

Supporting children's mental health during a pandemic toolkit - Emerging Minds

Smiling Mind

Practice your daily meditation and mindfulness exercises from any device. Smiling Mind is a unique tool developed by psychologists and educators to help bring balance to your life.

https://www.smilingmind.com.au/

MULTICULTURAL UPDATE

Greetings to the JFC community!

Unfortunately, “Lockdown 5.0” has had a rocky start to term 3, but we are now back to the norm. You did a fantastic job assisting your child/children while they were learning remotely. Let's hope that this is the last time we have to go into lockdown.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Lisa Robinson, our Acting Principal to JFC. She has rolled up her sleeves and begun to make great improvements.

I'd like to provide an update to our Islamic community on the Juma Prayers held at our school. Brother Tarek will continue to lead the prayers at our school for the remainder of the term. This implies that your child/children will no longer be required to leave school to attend Juma prayers at the local Mosque. Our male students will be able to pray in the Drama room, which is located near the staff parking lot, during lunch time.

I'm hoping to organise the Morning Tea this term. I'm considering having guest speakers from local community organisations to discuss the services they provide and how our community can benefit from them. As parents/caregivers and JFC employees, this would be an excellent time to catch up and engage. I'm hoping we won't have to cancel and reschedule because of another lockdown.

I'm looking forward to communicating more about forthcoming activities and sharing them with you.

Take care and stay safe.

Kadriye Kurt

Multicultural Education Aide

MENTAL HEALTH PRACTITIONER UPDATE

Hello to all the JFC parents, carers and families,

With the students I work with, I often encourage them to download various apps on their phones, which can be helpful when they are experiencing mental health concerns such as feeling anxious or excessively worried, depressed, among other concerns. All of the apps that I speak to the students about are free and can be accessed as needed, outside of school hours given John Fawkner College’s policy around phones not being used while on school grounds. Some of the apps that I am aware of that may be helpful for students or yourselves as parents/carers and families when supporting your students are:

Beyond Now

Beyond Blue developed the Beyond Now app to help you make your own safety plan to support you through times of sadness or grief. You can make it on your phone and carry it with you to access anywhere and anytime.

Breathe2Relax

Breathe2Relax provides instructions for deep breathing exercises that can help reduce stress. Deep breathing has been shown to improve mood and deal with anger and anxiety.

Calm Harm

Calm Harm provides tasks that help you resist or manage the urge to self harm. You can add your own tasks too and it's completely private and password protected.

Clear Fear

Clear Fear provides you with a range of ways to manage the symptoms of anxiety.

Developed by a clinician co-collaboratively with young people, Clear Fear uses a Cognitive Behavioural framework to help you change anxious thoughts and emotions, alter anxious behaviours and calm fear responses. It also has helpful descriptions of the different ways in which anxiety presents, resources and a 'grit box' to boost resilience.

Smiling Mind

Smiling Mind is a unique tool developed by psychologists and educators to help bring balance to your life.

Search for these apps in the App Store of your phone or tablet device and you can also find further information on these apps by doing an internet search.

Here is a link for further apps which your students may find useful.

https://youthfocus.com.au/get-help/tools-apps/

As our Wellbeing team is only available during school terms and all of us working part-time hours, I believe it is important that the students have access to supports outside of these times, such as apps which have been recommended and developed by mental health professionals

If you wish to find out more information, please contact the school office and ask to be transferred to the Wellbeing office.

Wishing you and your families a pleasant week ahead.

Jazmin Pursell

Mental Health Practitioner

(Thursdays and Fridays)

ART THERAPY WITH RHIANNON