It has been a busy few weeks in the Student Wellbeing space.

We held our second Student Leadership Long Lunch. This is an opportunity for student leaders and house leaders in the Junior School and Senior School to come together to plan, share and further develop the projects they are undertaking in their different portfolios. Prior to this meeting the College and Junior Cabinets also met with the Student Representative Council members from each homeroom. In this forum College and Junior Captains were able to hear the concerns and ideas that have been generated by SRC members in consultation with their homeroom. They were then tasked with bringing those concerns to the Leadership Long Lunch and we held an open discussion about how these ideas could be incorporated or adjust the direction planning in the Leadership Cabinet.

It was great to see the impact of student voice in action as the Cabinet grappled with concerns raised about issues ranging from uniform, to cleaning products, to recycling, to behavior in the classroom. We will be holding our third Long Lunch early next term as the Cabinets prepare for the upcoming subject weeks.

This week we had several events and presenters coming into the College to work with our staff, students, and parents. Michelle Sweeney from BE YOU Foundation came to present on Educator Wellbeing with all staff and facilitated an operational debrief for the wellbeing team and learning support staff. Both were an excellent opportunity for staff to come together with a focus on developing their own wellbeing strategies and on supporting students in this space as well.

Susan McLean from Cyber Safety Solutions came in on Thursday to present to students from Year 7 to 10 on topics such as Digital Reputation, Cyberbullying, Online 'friends', Sexting, and Staying Safe online. You can explore an outline of her presentation on her website by following this link. It was clear to see that students were very engaged in this presentation and Susan offered some confronting and vital information designed to help young people understand both the dangers and safe strategies when they engage in online platforms. I’d like to encourage parents/guardians to have a chat with their young people about this session. One of the takeaways I gained from Susan’s presentation is that the more we can promote dialogue and understanding between families at home, and with the school more broadly, about challenges young people face online, the safer they will be.

Finally, Award winning Author and presenter Michelle Mitchell came to the College for our second Parent Engagement Event. Michelle’s presentation centered around the challenges parents face in raising teenagers. It was an affirming and open conversation so thank you to all the parents who came and shared their experiences and thank you to Michelle for her passion and her energy in helping parents in this space.

Sacred Heart College is committed to promoting the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of all children.
Further information about Child Safety at SHCK can be found on the College website.
https://www.shckyneton.catholic.edu.au/our-college/child-safe/