Wellbeing and Positive Education.

Our school's wellbeing centre has continued to be widely used and supported by our college community which has been really pleasing to see. Our team of counsellors, mental health practitioners and psychologists are currently supporting over 400 students across the college, we encourage all students and families to engage with us if you need advice or someone to talk to, if we don't have the answers we can definitely help to connect you to external services and organisations for further support.

As a wellbeing team we have been incredibly proud of our staff and students as the level of support that has been given to each other has been amazing. Something we have loved seeing is that our students have started to refer their peers to wellbeing when they notice something isn't quite right, this tells us the college is on the right path with guiding our students to look out for and care for one another. 

Our college wide positive education program B+@CESC has now been running in all classes for the past three terms with great success. Students have been actively engaged in classroom activities that promote positive mental health and wellbeing. 

As a wellbeing team it has been pleasing to see students express their gratitude to one another and their teachers, thinking in a positive way and identifying things that are going well is starting to become part of their daily lives which is pleasing to see.  

We really encourage parents/guardians to embrace our positive education program and try to incorporate the principles of gratitude, empathy, kindness and mindfulness into the family home as often as possible, keep an eye out for our compass posts that provides families with activities they can undertake at home with the family. 

Mental Health Month:

October is Mental Health Awareness month, as a college we will be running classroom activities in homegroups and running a series of staff vs students competitions to foster connection and have some fun, both of which are really important for our mental health and wellbeing. As a parent/guardian I really encourage you to focus on your own mental health and wellbeing, how much time are you spending each week strengthening your mind and looking after your happiness? When our young people see their role models taking the time and effort to improve or maintain their mental health and wellbeing this can have a profound impact on their willingness to give things a try or seek help. 

A simple way to start things off is to ask your children how their day was and identify one or two things that went well during their day, also ask them about what they are looking forward to that's coming up in their lives. Simple gratitude questions take a couple of mins and can help to get young people thinking of the positives. 

Breakfast Club:

Our college runs breakfast club for students every Tuesday and Friday at the front of the red building from 8-8:40am. Students can access free food and beverages and engage with staff to play games and make connections. 

DiSS - Doctors in Schools:

Every Thursday in the wellbeing centre we have our visiting GP Dr Reza. Any student can be booked in to see Dr Reza or our school nurse Tess Doyle. If you wish to make a booking for yourself or as a parent for their child please contact Ms Nicole Price at the college. This is a free service, please note a green Medicare card is required to obtain an appointment, bookings can also be made online using compass through the star icon. 

The Resilience Project

Throughout 2023, we will be working closely with The Resilience Project to support the wellbeing of our school community. 

The Resilience Project delivers emotionally engaging programs and provides evidence-based, practical strategies to build resilience.

Our Partnership Program consists of online presentations and weekly lessons for students, professional development for staff, and Parent & Carer Hub (inc. digital presentations) for our parent and carer community. 

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing the Parent & Carer Hub with you. The videos are 5-10 minutes long and will walk through the key pillars of resilience:

• Gratitude
• Empathy & 
• Mindfulness 

As part of our partnership with the TRP parents/guardians can access useful tips and videos to watch at home and help support you to include the GEM principles into the home. 

You can re-watch the videos and access activities and resources anytime via the Parent & Carer Hub.

School Uniform Support:

The Wellbeing Team is able to provide financial support for families with regards to purchasing school uniform. We are able to provide uniform vouchers that will cover up to 80% of the cost of new uniform items from the uniform store. If you would like support please contact Mr. Paul Campbell or Ms Nicole Price at the college. 

CESC Community Pantry:

The college has a stocked community pantry located outside the front of the admin building. We encourage all families to utilise this pantry and take what food items you need, we understand with the rising costs of living some families are doing it tough and we want to support you as best we can so please feel comfortable in taking some food to stock your pantries at home.