Wellbeing
Online Wellbeing activities
The last few weeks we have introduced some online Wellbeing & Mindfulness activities for our students to engage in. Our school counsellors have been running Meditation and Progressive Muscle Relaxation sessions as an opportunity for students to switch off from their remote learning and do something to calm their minds.
National Child Protection Week
National Child Protection Week is the 5th-11th September. It is everyone's responsibility to keep young people safe and well. These days there is the added challenge of keeping young people safe online. With technology bringing us all together and allowing our students to stay socially connected and engaged in their education it is more important than ever to protect them online!
Please spend some time exploring this Family Hub - Resources for Parents/Carers which has some good information about parental control and cyber education. Parents and carers can help children prevent and deal with online bullying by following these handy tips from eSafety's experts. eSafety are also offering an online Webinar for parents. Please follow this linkto register.
As we go to print the Victorian Government has recently announced that our time in remote learning will not end this week and our return to school learning is not yet confirmed.
With this in mind, we have become very aware of the need for all of our students and families to have material that will support them through this time until we return to onsite learning and a level of normality, whatever that may be.
Michael Carr-Gregg (leading Australian Psychologist) identifies 7 Key Factors that we need to focus on for our students specifically during lockdown:
- Resilience
- Diet – eating healthy foods that give energy
- Exercise – to keep our body, soul and mind positive
- Sleep – ensuring that we all have enough sleep to sustain us
- Technological Detox – that we all have time away from the technology to rejuvenate and do other things
- Friends – stay in touch with our friends in a variety of ways even if we cannot be physically together
- Plan/Structure your day – having routines and organising our time helps to ensure that we meet the other expectations for the day, keep up to date with our work expectations and ensure that we have down time to exercise and rejuvenate.
It also encouraged all of us to reflect on:
- A GOOD Day
- What were 3 GOOD things we did today?
- How to include our young people in house activities such as cooking to keep them involved and to give them a focus that offers learning in a different way
- How to find a routine at home even, if we are working from home, that offers structure and organisation
- Always speaking positively about the news – whatever that may be as young people pick up on our vibes and negativity. So stay optimistic.
- If problems arise – solve them together – a solution is always possible.
As Families/Parents/Teachers we need to always try to do the following:
- Always keep lines of communication open and say it is okay to feel this way?
- Answer questions as honestly and calmly as possible
- Keep to regular routines and plan for these routines
- And as adults we need to look after ourselves so we can look after our young people.
For us one of the key ideas for us to continue to stay positive and offer our young people is HOPE.
We encourage all of our families to reach out to Homeroom Teachers and Year Level Leaders if you feel that you need any extra help or just someone to talk to at this time. We are here to listen and support you.
Stay Safe and look out for yourself and each other.
Assistant Principals - Students
Miss Emma Neville & Mr Peter Harte