Wellbeing Team News

As we put Term 3 behind us, we reflect on the challenges faced by our school community throughout this term.  The ongoing lockdown from COVID-19 and the unfolding situation in Afghanistan certainly impacted on the entire school community.  What is remarkable is the resilience and determination shown by our staff and students to persevere, no matter what was thrown at us.  Remote learning continued and staff worked very hard to make learning interesting and engaging for students.  Students persisted with their classes and participated in their course counselling, making informed decisions about their future pathways and studies. 

This term the Wellbeing team were excited to be joined by Chaplain Andii Dunuwille. She has been a welcome addition to our team who has managed to build great relationships with staff and students. Andii has put a statement together to introduce herself to the wider college community: 

Hi Everyone! My name is Andii, I'm the new Chaplain and I'm really excited to be part of the Wellbeing Team at Hampton Park. I am extremely passionate about empowering future generations, whether that means counselling, running programs or just being a sounding board. I really believe that these young people have so much more to offer than they realise and hopefully, I can be part of helping them discover that. I am at school every Tuesday and Thursday should you need anything!

The wellbeing team worked extremely hard to support staff and students around health and wellbeing, by continuing with our ‘Wellbeing Wednesday’ tips and information, distributed on Teams and college social media.  But our main focus was the ‘R U OK?’ Day celebrations on Thursday, 9th September 2021.  For the students attending onsite, the team held a lunchtime catch-up with yellow-themed healthy snacks and games. All remote learning students were invited to attend a lunchtime session of their choice – Fitness Fun or Mindful Colouring. 

The year 12 students and all staff received care packages, thoughtfully put together by the wellbeing team and sent to their homes.   We hoped you enjoyed this little surprise!

The wellbeing team supported our Afghan students by organising a number of different events.  Students were invited to attend a workshop of writing letters to Members of Parliament. The school community were invited to attach ribbons in the Australian and Afghanistan flag colours to the front gate of the school as a symbolic show of support to our Afghan community.  A Migration Lawyer information session was held on 16th September and we sincerely thank Ms Desislava (Dessie) Hristova from Assent Migration Lawyers for her presentation and support to our school community.

On the 28th of August, our college celebrated Wear It Purple Day. On this day we raise awareness for our LGBTQIA+ communities both inside and outside our school. Although the initial plan was for this event to be held in person, lockdown had other ideas, but we didn’t let that stop us! We hosted a variety of activities during the week, including Purple Pancake making on Tuesday 24th and a Draw Your Inner Queen activity that was facilitated by Ms. Riley and Mr. Marriott on Friday 27th. There were also small but powerful ways our school community celebrated the week, including using Wear It Purple Teams backgrounds and wearing purple/rainbow accessories. We are hopeful that next year we can do something bigger, better and in person for Wear It Purple Day! 

We have also been working hard behind the scenes to try and ensure that all members of the college community have what they need to learn. We have been working closely with college staff and State Schools’ Relief to secure a number of laptops for certain eligible young people. We are grateful to have the ongoing support of State School Relief with providing some material aid educational supplies. 

The Department of Education and Training manages a number of scholarships which are available to students who are currently enrolled in Years 4 – 12.

Applicants for these scholarships are evaluated on their:

• participation in school activities
• community involvement
• academic record for the current year.

Scholarships are either one-off payments or for the duration of the student’s course/study annually. Applications for these scholarships, a number of which have specific eligibility criteria, will open on 1 October 2021 and close on 28 February 2022.

For more information and a list of available scholarships visit the 2021 Student Scholarships for Years 4 – 12 Factsheet.

For information on how to apply visit the student scholarships web page here.

Just a reminder that we remain fortunate to have the valuable services of Ms Mel Kemper, Psychologist who provides counselling to students at no cost to families, under the Medicare Mental Health Care Plan.  We are also supported by Maddy from Foundation House who can provide 1:1 support for students from a refugee background. 

The wellbeing team are available to support students during remote learning, via phone calls or Microsoft Teams Chat.  Students are encouraged to use our WellbeingConnect portal accessible through Compass via the star icon. 

Please keep an eye on the Wellbeing Services and COVID-19 Updates sections of the college website for helpful resources focused on mental health and material aid etc.  

If you would like more information about supporting your child, please email us on 

contact_wellbeing@hpsc.vic.gov.au or call 8795 9400 and ask for the wellbeing team.