PRINCIPAL REPORT

From the College Principal

Dear Parents, Carers and Friends,

As we endure our fifth lockdown, and hold on to the hope that it will finish next week, it is increasingly obvious that the general capacity for some people to cope with being locked down is decreasing. 

I want to remind you that the school employs, with significant support from your parent contributions, a very large student wellbeing team. The team has been very busy continuing to provide support to students who we know are vulnerable to the impacts of lockdown. I published the contact details of the team on Compass in the COVID19 Update 37 last week. I encourage you to contact the team if your child is displaying symptoms of psychological distress due to remote learning.

Whilst it is critical that we stay the course, and continue to abide by the lockdown conditions, for the benefit of everyone in our state and nation, we also need to take steps to address the increasing psychological and mental toll these lockdowns are having on our young people.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, and the SchoolsTV team, have produced a very good eight-minute video on COVID fatigue. In this video, he outlines the impacts lockdown life is having on young people, and makes some very useful suggestions about how parents/carers can support their children. 

You can find it by using the link below. I commend it to you.

https://brightonsc.vic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-covid-fatigue-youth-mental-health

I want to close by thanking everyone in our community for working together to get through this latest lockdown. It seems clear that the Delta variant of COVID19 is presenting governments around the world with serious additional challenges in managing their response to the pandemic. It has been so positive, and uplifting, that Victorians, in particular, have displayed selfless, community-minded behaviours by conforming to the lock-down restriction to the high degree we have.

I encourage everyone to maintain this discipline, as it is clear that the high transmissibility of the Delta variant means that we need to do everything we can to reduce the number of people active in the community whilst they are infectious.

Yours sincerely, 

Richard Minack 

Principal