Year 9 Pastoral Guardian
Teena Christofis
As students approach the assignment and exam part of the term, you may hear your daughter mention that they are overwhelmed or struggling to keep up with school demands. Not only is it relevant that time management and organisation skills are applied, students need to ensure that they have developed positive and effective wellbeing strategies. If there is not a balance of rest, exercise, sleep, healthy eating and study – we are left feeling overwhelmed, which can result in increased level of stress and anxiety.
For more information on Managing Overwhelm and how to support your daughter, please refer to the School TV link: SPECIAL REPORT: Managing Overwhelm | Mount Alvernia College (schooltv.me).
“Parenting adolescents can be demanding, terrifying, exhausting and a sanity threatening endeavour. Often it can be a lonely business with many parents being afraid to share their concerns.” Dr Michael Carr-Gregg.
As you would know, adolescence is a significant developmental stage marking the transition from childhood to adulthood. This is a time of huge social and emotional development for your child. It helps to know what to expect and how to support your child through these changes. You will notice changes in the way your child interacts with family, friends and peers as changes in relationships, social interactions and emotions are evident during this stage of life. As adolescents search for their place in society and explore their personal interests, beliefs, values and goals, they are also searching for increased independence and responsibilities. Adolescence can be a challenging yet rewarding time, for you and your child. For more information on understanding adolescence, I recommend you view SchoolTV Understanding Adolescence | Mount Alvernia College (schooltv.me).
On Wednesday, 25 May, Mrs Sacha Carney and I had the pleasure of attending the YLead Altitude Day workshop with Year 9 students – Yashvi Mehta, Elizabeth Christian, Amie Peters, Annabel Thomas, Mia Biddle, Katie Perkins, Amaeh Reed, Charlotte Lacanau, Charlotte Neal, Jade Janas, Hannah Yiannakis, Chelsea Blake and Sienna O’Shea. During this workshop, students learnt how to become active and inspiring leaders within their school and community. Students gained advice from inspirational guest speakers on how to make good choices, build their confidence and make a difference. These students were challenged to step outside the classroom and understand what it means to be a leader (with or without a badge). I look forward to supporting Year 9 students to continue to build on their leadership skills and become spirited leaders.
This week, you would have received information regarding the Year 9 Outdoor Education Experience via the College APP and email. This will occur in Term 3, week 4 (Tuesday 2 – Friday 5 August), facilitated by ‘Adventure Alternatives’ Education Centre at Kenilworth. Please refer to this letter as it contains a link to the website, online permission, medical/dietary forms, overview of the experience and activities and FAQs. The link also includes a ‘what to bring to camp’ form. Please ensure that these forms are completed before Thursday 16 June.
Finally, I would like to congratulate all Year 9 students for their dedication during the preparation and planning lessons conducted prior to NAPLAN and their subsequent conduct during the exams. I would also like to thank those Year 9 students who gave up their Sunday to volunteer to be part of the Mount Alvernia Open Day. These students showed that they are spirited representatives of the College and positive members of our community. I am so proud of you all – well done!
Please continue to contact me atthe College on 3357 6000 or via email at chrit@staff.mta.qld.edu.au if you would like to inform me about your daughter's acheivements or if you have any questions or concerns.
Teena Christofis
Year 9 Pastoral Guardian
STUDENT REFLECTIONS
“From attending the Ylead Altitude Day I learnt so much about leadership skills and life lessons. From guest speakers and activities throughout the day, the main message extracted out of the experience is to step out of our comfort zones and say yes to achieve our best selves and make changes for our future.” Mia Biddle
On Wednesday the 25th myself, twelve other Year 9 girls along with over 500 Year 9 students from all different schools in Brisbane went to the city hall for the yLead attitude day. We learnt about leadership and the keys to success.
The potential keys are:
- Play with Passion (meaning: what are you passionate about?)
- Courage before confidence (meaning: what is something you want to get better at and how are you going to get there, what are the steps?)
- Seek support (meaning: who is going to help you create your dream and how are they going to help you overcome your fears)
- Make a map and take action (meaning: what do you need to do to get to your dream?)
- Grit and grow (meaning: what are you going to do after you succeed?)
These five questions create a vision to success as it helps us know what we want to achieve and dream. Later on in the day we heard from three guest speakers Sihle Gugu (GuGu), Cody Schaeffer and Ben Pettingill who shared their story along with many tips on leadership and how to overcome challenges.
These are some tips from the guests:
- Gugu- she says have a timetable and schedule in everything including rest time. And don’t let other people get in the way of your dreams, do what you love.
- Cody- 1. Don’t do anything alone (you need support and guidance in life, let someone help you) 2. Believe (in yourself and others) 3. Do your best 4. Give back to your community
- Ben- 1. Aspire 2. Acquire 3. Take action (one step at a time)
All three of the guest speakers had something to share with us about their personal lives, their dreams and how they got there. I know I will be definitely taking their advice into consideration about my dreams. To anyone who wants to dream big, take action, ask for help because you won’t get anywhere if you don’t take one step at a time and believe in yourself. Chelsea Blake
“On Wednesday the 25th of May, Year 9 students attended the yLead Altitude Day at Brisbane City Hall. The day was filled with amazing learning opportunities, including leadership workshopping, social activities, and immersion games. However, the best part of this wonderful experience were the guest speakers: Gugu, Code and Ben who generously shared their wisdom with the near 600 students in attendance. Ultimately, the yLead Altitude Day was an immersive, exciting experience that we all loved! A huge thank you to the teachers who supported us at this wonderful event and to Mount A for the opportunity.” Amaeh Reed
Altitude Day was an amazing opportunity that everyone must experience. We heard from three inspirational guest speakers who each taught us valuable life lessons. The activities were all interactive and the volunteers were really approachable. Leadership day taught me about how to be confident and inclusive as a leader and how to be your own person in the best way possible. I made so many new friends and experienced so many new things. I would absolutely love to do this again and recommend it to anyone who is doing the raise the bar! Yashvi Mehta
Altitude Day was an experience designed to grow leadership skills and knowledge, specifically for Yr 9’s around and near Brisbane. It was an amazing experience with many guest speakers such as "GuGu", Cody Shaeffer, and Ben Pittingill. We got to make connections with new people from other schools, through various activities, all going towards our knowledge and understanding of leadership. Overall, it was a great day, and I'm sure everyone left with a new skills, knowledge, or even friends that can go towards our leadership journeys. Katie Perkins
Altitude day was an awesome experience. We got the opportunity to meet and talk to other Year 9 students from a variety of schools. The guest speakers were extremely inspiring and gave us many takeaways . Our main takeaway from this day was, “courage before confidence”. We can’t wait to use these lessons to further improve our leadership skills. Jade Janas and Hannah Yiannakis