Issue 12 SJC News 2020

Today’s newsletter article is devoted to highlighting some really important community wellbeing initiatives the College has been able to secure. The COVID-19 restrictions and remote learning has reinforced the importance of standing in solidarity as an SJC community and the need for a healthy partnership between parents/carers, school and students has never been so crucial. We are looking at ways in which we can provide relevant information and professional development for our parent body and wider community to help get the best out of ourselves and each other in these challenging times.

We are very proud to call ourselves a restorative practices school. Restorative practices assist teachers, students and parents to build, maintain and restore relationships. Kristie Elliot, Director of Restorative Pathways, has put together a parent webinar called “Restorative Approaches for School Communities.” The webinar will help you understand the restorative philosophy, provide a picture of what it looks like in schools but mainly it is designed to help you and your children to navigate challenges, resolve problems and replace relationships using a restorative lens. I hope you enjoy this webinar.

St Joseph’s families can also join an online webinar on Tuesday 8 September called “Supporting Adolescents to Make Positive, Safe and Responsible Choices online.” This is an opportunity that has been especially gifted to the SJC community and we are privileged to have the E Safety Commissioner, Julie Inman-Grant present to us, along with Principal Tony Paatsch, e-Safe experts and key personnel from Headspace. Organisers are anticipating this to be a Geelong region event hosted by St Joseph’s. We will advertise this event as we get closer but I urge you all to mark it in your diaries.

The following week, Wednesday 16 September we will again invite all SJC families to join a special screening premier of the film ‘Angst’. From the producer of ‘Screenagers’ and ‘LIKE’, this short documentary style film focuses on anxiety and teenage mental health. I have had the privilege of watching the documentary and I am confident this will appeal to all Year 7-12 students and families. The screening will commence with a welcome from Executive Producer, Scilla Andreen. After watching the documentary, we will be treated to a panel who will engage in an interactive Q&A type forum. Dr Michael Carr-Gregg will be part of this panel as will Scilla and other members of the film. Again, we will advertise as we get closer and we are keen for you to join this event https://angstmovie.com/about/.

We have also secured a partnership with LifeChanger Foundation, a non-profit organisation who will come in and work with all our Year 8 students in 2021. LifeChanger was formed in 2017 by Scott Watters and Trevor Hendy. LifeChanger’s mission is to create a generational shift in society by focusing on positive psychology to ‘Awaken the Hero’ that lives within Australian youth. Their objectives are to build sustainable, growth-mindset communities by providing interactive sessions with students on Health, Gratitude, Connection, Resilience and Purpose. What we love about the program is that it offers mentor training to help with the session facilitation. We see this as a wonderful opportunity to give Mt Sion (Year 10-12) students an opportunity to gain this mentor qualification and give back to the younger years. Our first mentor training session will be held on the final day of term, 18 September at 9:00am. Details will be sent to our students. Feel free to check out their web site https://lifechanger.org.au/.

Finally, we have sent surveys to all our students regarding Remote Learning 2.0 and we have been impressed with the information we are receiving. We intend to send out a parent/carer survey so we can continue to shape our delivery based on informed data from our families who are at home experiencing remote learning first hand. We will also send out more information about our new online method to conduct our parent/student/teacher interviews. This information will be attached to the Principal’s communication e-mail next week.

Thanks everyone, let’s remain positive, calm and safe throughout the remaining weeks of Term 3.