Each morning it has been a pleasure to greet warmly every student individually before their school day begins. Ironically, this opportunity to check in with them has occurred because of the challenging circumstances of COVID-19 and the temperature checks we are undertaking to ensure the safety of every student. This pandemic has some ‘silver linings’ and seeing each student is a daily blessing and has highlighted to us as teachers the resilience and compassion of many students.

I would encourage you to celebrate and praise your child/ren for their adaptable, creative and considerate approach to the new requirements of attending school. It is great to see them take ownership of their contribution at a community level. I am certain that for every child it has required additional self-regulation and development of new strategies and they are to be commended for their effort of putting the wellbeing of those vulnerable in our community to the forefront of their mind.

Out sub-school leaders are considering additional ways to assist students to be able to build positivity and emotional wellbeing; opportunities to laugh and celebrate and enjoy positive friendships within the school environment. The Junior school in Life-skills have created a Gratitude Tree, which junior school students have contributed to, is a daily reminder that gratitude is a way to build our mental wellbeing. On the raisingchildren.net.au website there are some useful strategies which assist in boosting teenage happiness and wellbeing. During this pandemic, teenagers have experienced disappointments of cancelled or smaller birthday parties, cancelled family holidays and the disruption of many other events. As adults, we have expressed our disappointment and we know that social interaction and new experiences are an integral factor in teenager wellbeing. Below are some tips from the website which we can use to help our teenagers navigate feelings of discouragement if they experience them.

Teenage happiness and wellbeing

Happiness is a state of mind or a mood. Teenagers are usually happier when they’re satisfied with their lives and relationships, although nobody is happy all the time.

Wellbeing comes from physical, mental and emotional health. It’s also about understanding your emotions, taking part in different activities, having good relationships and social connections, finding meaning in life and feeling that you’re doing well.

Give your child praise when he/she behaves in ways you want to encourage, like helping out, doing chores or getting homework done. For example, ‘I really appreciate it when you put your dirty clothes in the laundry bin’.
Give your child attention. As we know it’s easy to get caught up in scrolling through news or social media, which can make us more anxious and limits our opportunities to provide a positive perspective to our child. While missing opportunities to interact in person.
Encourage your child to try new things. For example, if your child is interested in playing a new sport, you could offer to take him along to the local club’s registration day.
Value your child’s strengths, and praise him/her for who she/he is. This helps to build self-esteem and protects your child/ren from comparing themselves to other people.
Let your child know that you’re proud of them when they try, especially when things are tough.

Rules and boundaries

Clear and fair rules help teenagers feel safe when lots of things in their lives are changing and challenging. If you involve your child in making the rules, he or she will be more likely to stick to them. Negotiating rules with your child/ren is also a way of showing that you respect their growing maturity.

Healthy lifestyle

Encourage good sleep habits: teenagers need about 8-10 hours of sleep each night.
Help your child aim for at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day.
Encourage your child to make healthy food choices to fuel his/her growth and development.
Help your child keep a healthy balance between study, work and play. This might mean looking at how many nights your child is out doing things, how much down time he/she has, how much he/she can contribute to family life through chores, how many family meals you have together and so on.

Family relationships

Share and make memories together. This year it may look like simple things such as exploring the amazing walks and beaches in South Gippsland, and remembering things you’ve enjoyed as a family and planning the things you want to do when circumstances change.
Make time to talk about individual and family successes. For example, you could try going around the table at family meals and giving everyone a turn at sharing something that went well for them during the day.
Establish and maintain family rituals. For example, cook pancakes on Saturday mornings, watch special movies together, go for takeaway milkshakes after school on Fridays and so on.

Mary MacKillop Newsletter

"So great is the strength we possess in our unity" Mary MacKillop 1874

Issue 1 · 31 Jul 2020

In this issue