The last two months have provided opportunity for consolidation, growth and opportunity for the College. The experience of COVID-19 and the challenges of remote learning have shown the agility, compassion and care of our school community. Our College quickly put into place a number of strategies and initiatives to support our students’ wellbeing for learning. It was delightful to witness how all members of our community – students, parents and teachers – worked tirelessly to support one another in a historical time.

Learning remotely through Canvas and Zoom deepened our partnership to engage and celebrate each student’s gifts and talents. One of our learnings to have come from our COVID-19 experience has been the use of Zoom and online platforms to engage with our parents. This has helped us identify an under-utilised form of communication. The virtual family meetings forced the team to rethink their communication strategy and meeting protocols. The intensity and the focus on the individual student was quickly noted as a key strength of the online platform. Zoom allowed teachers to quickly engage with students and their families. Let us not lose this learning and positive experience.

Learning Mentors and the all staff have been delighted in having our students return to re-establish our sense of Josephite community. Having the Senior students return two weeks earlier enabled the Senior Wellbeing Team to focus on the needs of these students and to provide a calm and regular routine to the student’s wellbeing for learning. Our Senior students engaged in a wellbeing lesson to provide an opportunity to reconnect with their peers and teachers. Students had to describe what they had learnt about themselves during COVID-19 and then created a paper chain as a symbol of strength and unity.

Our Student Leadership Team have been proactive in supporting their peers and providing authentic leadership during this time. The students created a student-led webpage that provided helpful tips and strategies to cope during the remote learning period. The students need to be acknowledged for their tenacity and ability to lead with conviction and creativity during this challenging period. Congratulations and thanks to our leaders.

The Years 7–10 students have now been back for two weeks and they too have settled well into the community and College life. Our Year 7 students were treated to a Transition Day whereby they spent half the day with their Learning Mentor and reacquainted themselves with their peers and the remaining day in elective subjects. Our Year 7 students had spent more time in remote learning than they had onsite.

As we move forward, the College Counselling Team (Student Services Team) and members of the Wellbeing Team continue to provide support and promote resilience and a growth mindset.

This month, we participated in a number of Headspace workshops. Students in Years 9 and 10 met a Headspace Consultant who worked with our students to provide strategies to identify and support their friends who may be experiencing a challenging time. If you have concerns, feel free to contact your daughter’s Learning Mentor, Wellbeing Leader, or College Social Worker – Jacinta McMahon, Clare Duong-Thai, or Psychologist – Susha Vance.

Helpful Online & Telephone Support Services

Headspace eheadspace.org.au

Youth Beyondblue youthbeyondblue.com

ReachOut.com

Eating Disorders Foundation of Victoria www.eatingdisorders.org.au 1300 550 236

LifeLine 131 114

Kids Helpline www.kidshelp.com.au 1800 551 800

Suicide Line www.suicideline.org.au 1300 651 251

Domestic Violence Crisis Line www.dvrcv.org.au 1800 200 526

Orygen Youth Health www.oyh.org.au 1800 888 320

Department of Health and Human Services 1300 650 172

Eating Disorders www.eatingdisorders.org.au 1300 550 236

Youth Drug & Alcohol Advice (YoDAA) www.yodaa.org.au 1800 458 685

Uniform

In Terms 2 and 3, all students must wear the College blazer to and from school. Students who chose to wear the new uniform must have the new blazer. Recently a number of our students have enjoyed wearing the College trousers. It is expected that students who wear the trousers must wear the new College jumper.

Students who continue to wear the incorrect uniform will be sent home.

May the holidays be a time to continue this new slower pace, find time to walk the dog, watch the television together as a family and nurture one another.

With every blessing,

Steven Mifsud - Deputy Principal Student Wellbeing