Student Wellbeing

I would like to introduce myself to the parent community as the School Counsellor at St. James College.

My name is George Vlamakis and for the past 25 years, I have worked largely with young people and families, as a Social Worker, Counsellor and Teacher in education and health settings.

As we all know, adolescence can be a turbulent period – for the young person, as well as the family. Sometimes input from other people can help.

I hope that I can be a useful resource to you this year, as a safe and supportive School Counsellor.

You are welcome to contact me directly on 9575 8128 or gvlamakis@sjcbe.catholic.edu.au if you have any concerns or would like to just touch base.

Your son is also welcome to contact me directly – via email or a knock or on the (open) door.

My style of counselling is respectful, flexible, and gentle. I think of myself as a ‘professional listener’. Most students express a preference for counselling to be low key, invisible to his peers and flexible to his timetable. I am honouring of this. It is rare that I publically collect a student from the classroom. Usually we tee up a time through the school intranet, and his peers are none the wiser of his whereabouts.

One day a week, we also have a visiting Psychologist, Jeff Edmonds, who can be accessed freely through a GP referral of a Mental Health Care Plan.

Pastoral Care is a huge focus at St James with levels of care including the Home Room Teacher and Year Level Coordinator. There is a Peer Support Program for Year 7s this term, and I will be meeting all Year 7s in small groups over the next few weeks for us to get to know each other.

Boys' education looks very different today from when I went to school. The school is now also a place to deliver a range of wellbeing, resilience, life-skills and character building programs. Nurturing adolescent boys towards the journey of healthy masculinity is at the heart of the wellbeing programs at the school.

The key is participation. It is easy to sit at home and play video games, but this makes for a small life. Boys who give things a go, and participate in the many extra-curricular activities at school, are the ones who grow most and report the highest levels of satisfaction from their schooling.

I will maintain a Student Wellbeing column in each newsletter, which I hope will be an informative thread of connection with you throughout the year.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch.

George Vlamakis

Student Counsellor