Student Wellbeing

This year much has happened in terms of wellbeing. The following indicates the activities coordinated from the wellbeing office.

Individual Counselling:

Paul Marshall (Kinnoull Campus) and I (at Tiverton) have ongoing contact with approximately 240 students, who we see individually. Students typically present with issues including family dysfunction, mood disorders, personality issues, social awkwardness, behaviour management issues and a variety of personal growth and development concerns. Whilst counselling is confidential, students sometimes elect to have parents involved, and some degree of family counselling has been provided throughout the year.

Group Counselling:

An initiative of the student wellbeing teams (see right) has been the establishment of “social skills groups” which have been created in Primary and Years 7, 8 and 9. Student wellbeing team members believed that it was important to support students in their year level who struggle with social interaction. To this end, groups of about five members gather together with one member from the student wellbeing team to meet fortnightly. Agendas for meetings have focused on aspects of social interaction with which members need assistance. Meetings have provided forums where boys have “voice” and where attempts to experiment socially have been supported.

Student Wellbeing Team:

It was a pleasure to be able to introduce members of the Student Wellbeing team to the Tiverton Assembly early in the year, to see them receive their badges of office, and to have them recognized as valuable contributors to student leadership. Last year the group was trialed and in 2010 earned its unique place in the promotion of student wellbeing in the DLS community. The group consists of twelve members: one boy from each of the three primary grades and three boys from Years 7, 8 and 9. These boys have a very clear and focused set of tasks. Their tasks have included: • Acknowledging each student’s birthday with the provision of a card and treats — a function of the Year 9 section of the team • Providing the “transition booklet” to incoming Year 6s — a function of the Year 7 section of the team • Providing all students at Tiverton with a hardcopy of the “SWT newsletter” — published once per term. The boys have worked well and hard to cover a large range of topics including: death and grief, happiness, settling in, organization, sorting out arguments, understanding teasing, confidence, real friends, respect, gaming addiction, Facebook, pressure, divorce, judging others, sex, aspergers, anxiety, acceptance, determination, image, tiredness, feeling “down”, “crossing the line” – what’s funny and what’s not. In addition, each issue contains a number of websites that are pertinent to the student population. The boys are to be congratulated for the variety of topics covered and the clarity with which they have been presented. Congratulations to the team, which has shown real initiative and leadership in wellbeing and which has worked, not from one project to another, but consistently throughout the year. To the best of my knowledge, there is not another team like this one in other secondary colleges … so “cheers” to us at DLS!

Parent Education Evenings:

Two well-attended evenings were offered this year. The first was on “partying and drawing boundaries”, presented by a Year 9 student and myself, and the second on the topic of “boys online” wholly presented by members of the Student Wellbeing Team. It is heartening to see parents attend in good number, and engage with topics that make an impact upon their sons, and family life. A key element of the usefulness and success of these evenings has been the involvement of students. Mr Pascal Rohan Director of Student Wellbeing

The Student Wellbeing Team

Back Row: James Halliday, Harry Thompson, Aiden Watson, Liam Bisognin, Jayden Rowe Middle Row: Mr Pascal Rohan, Remy Cadman, Daniel Rodriguez, Michael McMahon, Christian Di Donato Front Row: Oliver Lindsay, Ben Caruso, Ryan Taranto, James Bartholomeusz 12