What teens need most
Wellbeing matters
As adolescents navigate the stormiest years of their development, they need coaching, support, good examples and most of all understanding. This article by Sue Shellenbarger looks at what teens need the most at different developmental stages. It is a great read that will give you some handy pointers on how to work with your unpredictable teen!
Year 8 Headspace
The welfare team has worked with Mental Health support service Headspace at Liverpool to introduce the program “Finding my Place” which has been run with a small group of Year 8 girls this term. The aim of this program is to promote a positive message about mental health and encourage and educate students about what it means to have a positive sense of self.
Our students have worked together over the last few weeks to build skills that deal effectively with challenges such as bullying, body image, and the general anxiety often associated with adolescent life.
Year 10 Links to Learning
This year our school welfare team has supported the introduction of a Links to Learning program with small groups of Year 10 students. Links to Learning is a NSW Department of Education funded program that engages students and provide a variety of learning opportunities aimed at improving their education, employment and life skills.
Semester One has seen positive results with our first group of year 10 girls graduating from the program. In term 3 we have 20 boys undertaking the program.
Year 11 Wise-n-Well
Ms Senthe, Mr Issa and myself are coordinating Wise-n-Well, a wellbeing program for Year 11 students for Term 4. This program will run for approximately 10 weeks and be a structure to support students in the first term of the HSC course. Wise-n-Well will run on a Tuesday afternoon and help set healthy habits for the HSC course. Areas of study will include stress management, healthy wellbeing, organisation,
motivation, study techniques, exercise, healthy sleeping habits and structured study time.
I encourage all Year 11 students who are struggling to organise their time, or need additional support in starting the HSC course to make themselves available to attend this valuable program.
F Farah, Year 11 Adviser
Parents must read - Snapchat Update
We shared this information on our Facebook page and on our school website earlier this week.
The latest update of SnapChat now tracks your child's location, and marks their location on a map for other users to see. Make sure you share this post to inform your friends of the need for this IMMEDIATE change to your child's account. Cyber Expert Jordan from ySafe alerted us to this change and recommends that you turn off this function. To do this, go into your child's SnapChat account, and follow the instructions below:
1. Open the app and immediately scroll down.
2. Click on the settings button (the gear icon) in the top right hand corner.
3. Scroll down and under the 'Who can..' section, click on 'See my location'
4. Turn on 'Ghost Mode'
If the settings aren't visible, you may need to pinch the screen when the camera is open in the app to access it.
It's absolutely imperative to do on your child's account as soon as possible. Please implement these changes immediately and spread the word to other parents to warn them about this danger.