Wellbeing and Community News

From the Student Wellbeing Team

Hello everyone,

This term we welcomed Bronwyn Anderson to our College. Bronwyn will be based at our Deer Park campus every Thursday and Friday as part of the Department’s  Secondary School Nursing Program. The aim of this program is to:

• play a key role in reducing negative health outcomes and risk-taking behaviours among young people, including drug and alcohol abuse, tobacco smoking, eating disorders, obesity, depression, suicide and injuries
• focus on prevention of ill health and problem behaviours by ensuring coordination between the school and community-based health and support services
• support the school community in addressing contemporary health and social issues facing young people and their families
• provide appropriate primary health care through professional clinical nursing, including assessment, care, referral and support
• establish collaborative working relationships between primary and secondary school nurses to assist young people in their transition to secondary school.

At VUSC, the staff are well and truly aware that the  COVID pandemic has shone a light on the ongoing decline in young people’s mental health. 

Resilience is an attribute that we all need to foster and maintain. Resilience is important for several reasons; it enables us to develop mechanisms for protection against experiences that could be overwhelming, helps us to maintain balance in our lives during difficult or stressful periods, and can also protect us from the development of some mental health difficulties and issues.

Please know that at VUSC, staff are observing and monitoring your child’s wellbeing and encouraging and supporting students to have a growth and resilient mindset. We have strong, established partnerships with a number of external support services to enable and support this, including: our regional Student Support Service Officers,  Brimbank Youth, Headspace, La Mana Pasifika, Charis Mentoring, the Alannah and Madeleine Foundation and School Focused Youth Services. 

We are so appreciative of the trust  you place in us, and our partnerships with you are a privilege. Please continue to liaise with your child’s teachers, their Year Level Coordinators and the Principal Team if you have any concerns about your child. 

Youth Workers (Harry at Junior Campus T: 9363 1155  and Peter at Senior Campus T:8312 0200) are available for students to talk with before and after school, during recess and lunchtimes also. 

Resilience – What? Why? How?                          

Resiliency helps kids navigate the inevitable trials, triumphs and tribulations of childhood and adolescence. Resilient kids become resilient adults, able to survive and thrive in the face of life’s unavoidable stressors.

WHY?

Resilient kids have a sense they can figure out what they need to do and can handle what is “thrown at them” with a sense of confidence.

HOW?

• Normalise you child’s nervousness/disappointment/frustration and help them how to figure it out – think about what does and doesn’t work, model and teach specific skills e.g. problem-solving, communicating, positively managing their emotions.
• Discuss and promote the 7 Essential Building Blocks of Resilience (Competence, Confidence, Connection, Character, Contribution, Coping and Control). Perhaps discuss one of these building blocks  each week as a family, and share successes in how you used these and how individually and collectively,  you can build on/apply them even further.
• The Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority (VCAA) put together an evidence-based framework about the skills children and young people need to be taught to develop the skills they need to be resilient. You can read more about that here (self-awareness and management: development of resilience).

For example students in years 7 and 8, might  be encouraged to:

• Assess their personal strengths using feedback from peers, teachers and others and prioritise areas for improvement.
• Reflect on their effectiveness in working independently by identifying enablers and barriers to achieving goals.
• Discuss the range of strategies that could be used to cope with difficult tasks or changing situations.
• At VUSC skills and strategies to develop resiliency and a resilient mindset are discussed and modelled in a variety of teaching and learning contexts, conversations with staff, as well as explicitly  taught, through our Respectful Relationships curriculum.

Some articles and resources that may be of interest:

10 Tips for Creating Resilient Families

https://theparentswebsite.com.au/ten-tips-for-creating-resilient-families/

10 Tips For Raising Resilient Kids

https://psychcentral.com/lib/10-tips-for-raising-resilient-kids#3

Building resilience in Children 

https://www.heysigmund.com/building-resilience-children/

Essential Building Blocks of Resilience 

http://www.fosteringresilience.com/7cs_parents.php

Gail Inniss

Student Wellbeing Manager

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VCE Tutoring Available

Tommy Le is a past VUSC student who is available to tutor VCE students in Mathematical Methods and Physics. Tommy can be contacted on mobile 0414 051 716 or via email at tommyle48@hotmail.com.

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Brimbank Council - programs and events in Term 2

Please see the flyer below for more information about the programs and events on offer in Brimbank this term. 

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St Albans Football Club is looking for players

Due to a generous sponsorship, St Albans Football Club is able to offer youths born between 2005 and 2007 the opportunity to play AFL football for a local team within Brimbank Council covering costs such as membership fees and game day apparel. They are a family oriented club focusing on inclusion and development.  

Please call 0417 525 511 or email stalbansfootyclub@gmail.com for more details. 

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AFL/AFLW Mentoring Program

Ladder Step Up Online is an online group mentoring program that builds young people’s competency across key life domains.

This pilot program is delivered weekly to young people who are looking to set themselves up for future independence. Key program areas include goal setting, independent living skills, health and wellbeing and employment planning.

AFL and AFLW players engage in the program which will run in weeks 6-10 this term. For more information please visit ladder.org.au and see the attached flyer. 

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Do you want to have a say in your local library?

On Friday 7 May, from 3-5pm, a special Chill n Chat event will be running for 12-25 year olds in front of Sunshine Marketplace (301 Hampshire Road). It will be a chance for young people to tell us what they want to see at their local library, while enjoying live music and roving entertainment. There will also be a number of food vouchers available for those who have their say on the library. 

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Shaping Brimbank

Brimbank City Council are currently undertaking consultation on three key documents: The Council Vision 2040, the Council Plan 2021-2025 and the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan.

Two workshops will be held in the coming weeks to capture community input into these documents before they are drafted. Once drafted, they will again be available for public exhibition. These workshops are:

Monday 10 May, 6-8pm Deer Park Hall - 50 Station Road, Deer Park

Wednesday 12 May, 6-8pm Brimbank Learning Futures (VISY) - 80B Harvester Road, Sunshine

Please register for these workshops, access pre-reading materials, and find more information about the process here: https://yoursay.brimbank.vic.gov.au/shapingbrimbank.