Lowanna College

Wellbeing Update

Breakfast Club

A reminder that Breakfast Club is available to students each Tuesday and Thursday morning from 7.45am to 8.20am. We encourage students who have not had a bite to eat to come along and get some toast and a hot milo. Children and adolescents who eat a healthy breakfast each day tend to perform better academically and feel a greater level of connectedness with teachers and peers which leads to further positive health and academic outcomes.

 

The Breakfast Club team is also looking for anyone who would like to volunteer their time to help our the Wellbeing team, one or both of the days we provide Breakfast Club. Please let the Wellbeing team know if you can help out. We also love donations to go towards Breakfast Club – margarine, cheese slices and milo are the things we would greatly appreciate.  

Respectful Relationships Update

On Friday 18 March, Lowanna recognised the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA). This is Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative which celebrates 12 years of action, connecting schools and communities to find workable solutions to prevent bullying.

 

The theme for 2022 is Kindness Culture. By building Kindness Culture together, we can promote inclusion, respect and community belonging for all students in schools across Australia.

Lowanna College has a zero tolerance to bullying.  We have recently had Project Rockit attend the school with a one day workshop and we have been working on some education in our homegroup classes.  The students will be filling in a survey about the education session and about bullying matters.  At Lowanna College we are working hard to build a culture of respect, inclusiveness and kindness.

 

On Compass, families were provided with a simple activity that can be done at home ‘A Kindness Wall’ …. This activity connects with a topic in the Respectful Relationships curriculum ‘Personal Strengths’ that your children will participate in throughout the year. We grow our strengths from using them – so this activity is an opportunity to grow our strengths for Kindness & Caring.

Print out the Kindness Wall sheets and put them in a central place at home. Use the sheet to share positive messages about each other (what you enjoy about each other, what you like to do together, what you notice about each other). A great idea is to use mealtimes as an opportunity to talk about what you have all contributed and keep the routine up as a permanent part of your family routines.

Respectful Relationships education is a core component of the Victorian Curriculum from Foundation to Year 12. It is all about embedding a culture of respect and equality across the entire school community.

A whole-school approach encourages schools to review their existing procedures and culture to ensure that they model respectful relationships and gender equality practices across the entire school community.

Cultural and procedural change means schools and their communities look at staff practices, classroom management, school events, sport programs, formals and other occasions, to ensure all aspects of a school’s operation and culture are underpinned by respect and equality.

A whole-school approach to Respectful Relationships recognises that schools are:

  • a workplace where all staff should feel equally respected, safe and valued and have equal opportunities
  • a safe space where young people can learn about gender equality and respectful relationships, in and out of the classroom
  • part of the wider community that can model gender equality and respectful relationships​.

At Lowanna , we recently held an all staff session where teams in year levels had the opportunity to look at and discuss the various activities in the Respectful Relationships curriculum. From this, staff will begin planning their activities for term two and beyond.

Our staff had an educational session with our Mental Health Practitioner Michael Naughton on Mindfulness.  Mindfulness- based social and emotional learning equips adults and young people with the skills they need to thrive in life, by building healthy minds and engaged classrooms.

We are currently introducing our educators to the beginning of their Mindfulness education.  At Lowanna we will be utilising this as a key component in a school’s approach to mental health and wellbeing. As the training is in-depth, it will be implemented over the year to incrementally build capability across the school.

 

For more information, please look at https://info.smilingmind.com.au

Achievement Program Update

Sexual Health Benchmark- We continue to gather evidence of the work we do to support this benchmark. This includes work our Secondary School Nurse does in her role within health promotion and work with students.

The Achievement Program is aligned to the World Health Organization's model for Health Promoting Schools and Healthy Workplaces.

Inclusion and Acceptance

Lowanna College are committed to providing an inclusive environment for all students.

LGBTQI+

Our college nurse Emma supports students from the LGBTQI+ community. Emma continues to run groups with Junior and Senior students where they connect with others and talk about challenges they are facing, strategies to overcome the challenges and how they can educate the rest of the school community about inclusiveness. These groups promote positive respectful relationships and a shared understanding that all students are respected.

If you would like to know more about these or any of the groups, reach out to the Wellbeing team who can provide more information.

 

Support groups in the Latrobe Valley for families with LGBTQIA+ young people -

Headspace Morwell Rainbow Families

Join the Morwell Rainbow Families group and support LGBTIQA+ young people. Group sessions include peer support, opportunities to make connections with other rainbow families and information and support regarding the LGBTIQA+ community.The group meets monthly on Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30pm.

Address: Headspace, Corner George St. and Hazelwood Rd. Morwell, VIC 3840

Online options also available upon request. Contact Yumna on the email address below.

Phone number: (03) 5136 8300

Contact Email: info@headspacemorwell.org.au

 

 CULTURAL INCLUSION

Schools play a critical role in strengthening multicultural inclusion within our community. We can do this by providing an environment that is accepting and understanding of diverse cultures. Inclusive practices provide a better quality education for all children. They are also instrumental in changing discriminatory attitudes.

Lowanna College does not tolerate behaviour that is discriminatory or disrespectful towards any diverse groups.

We encourage you to talk to your young people at home about the wonderful opportunities we have when we have a diverse group in our community ….

  • Shared learning about other countries and their cultures
  • Increasing our social network
  • Greater opportunities for friendships
  • Increased safety by reducing isolation
  • Opportunities to demonstrate good leadership

National Reconciliation Week 25th May - 3rd June

 

The National Reconciliation Week 2022 theme, Be Brave. Make Change. is a challenge to all Australians—individuals, families, communities, organisations and government—to Be Brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can Make Change for the benefit of all Australians.

 

National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. Collectively, our voices can lift and support to privilege and amplify First Nations’ voices.

 

Reconciliation is an ongoing journey that reminds us that while generations of Australians have fought hard for meaningful changes, future gains are likely to take just as much, if not more, effort.

 

At Lowanna we will be acknowledging the national reconciliation week at school.

 

Paul Fry

Wellbeing Team Leader