WELLBEING

IN 2022, SCHOOL DAYS RETURNED TO A ‘NORMAL’, FULL-TIME, ONSITE PROGRAM. CAMPS RESUMED, SPORTS PROGRAMS WERE BACK, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENT LEADERSHIP PROSPERED. OUR COCURRICULAR PROGRAMS WERE EXTENSIVE, WITH THE PERFORMING ARTS, DEBATING AND PUBLIC SPEAKING, CADETS, MUSIC, HOUSE EVENTS AND EXAMS, SPECIALIST COURSES, WORK EXPERIENCE, NAPLAN, AND MANY OTHER OPPORTUNITIES HAD STUDENTS FULLY ENGAGED.

Resilience is the capacity to face, adapt, be strengthened, and bounce back from adversity. Never has there been such a unique time when our community has needed to develop skills and knowledge to build resilience in themselves and in others. Developing a toolbox of strategies to adapt and get through our changing lifestyles both personally and at school has been key to adjusting and supporting mental health and wellbeing.

Our House and Mentor programs were reinvigorated with excited students keen to experience and engage in new learnings.

RULER, and the Resilience Project continued alongside the curriculum from the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships program. An increased time allocated for mentor classes greatly enhanced the development of individual relationships and support for students. Throughout the year, our Student Wellbeing Team and our wider student community came together to assist in raising awareness and educating others on a range of current and important themes. Some of these included:

International Women’s Day (8 March) we recognised and showed appreciation for the amazing women in our community and focused on ‘Breaking the Bias’. Student-led gate greetings provided our students and visitors with bookmarks featuring prominent women and men, who are known advocates for the rights of women and girls. Classroom resources and lessons guided students on the importance of gender equality and students were asked, ‘What actions can you take to call out gender bias, discrimination, and stereotyping when you see it?’ Students then posted their notes on ‘light bulb posters’ around the School.

Indigenous Celebration Week (May 2022) A special assembly was held for Years 7-12 students to further raise awareness of our Indigenous people and culture. We were joined by special guest speaker, Carmal Mullins, who shared her personal journey and insights into her Indigenous culture. Our Firsts sport teams played in an Indigenous jersey, designed by our friends from Lilla in Central Australia, during the AGSV Indigenous Round.

PRIDE Month (June 2022) To celebrate and raise awareness around PRIDE month, we ran several events. Jason Ball, the 2017, Young Australian of the Year, pioneer and advocate for the LGBTIQ+ community spoke at our Years 9-12 assembly about the role sport and allies have, in promoting diversity and inclusion for young people. We held a dedicated House Cross Country event, with students wearing a touch of pride to show support and allegiance to the LGBTIQ+ community. We had an AGSV football PRIDE match against Trinity Grammar and the Wellbeing Committee held gate greetings and provided bookmarks, outlining ways students can be more inclusive. Classroom mentor sessions focused on raising awareness and building discussion on diversity and inclusion.

International Friendship Day (29 July)

Students greeted their peers on the gates and provided ‘We Care’ cards, designed and created by Emma Burton (Year 12), which have been provided to students across the City of Kingston.

Sleep Awareness (9 September)

The intention of Pyjama Day was to raise awareness about the importance of sleep and to provide students with helpful information and resources about sleep.

Drug/Alcohol Education (11 & 12 October) We welcomed the engaging, insightful and informative Paul Dillon (DARTA) back to Mentone to provide our Years 10-12 students with drug and alcohol education. Current research trends and practical strategies were also provided to parents and the wider community at a Mentone Stories event. Mentone Stories The team from Man Cave ran a series of workshops with our Year 9s, building on the theme of connectedness and belonging. Man Cave also worked with students and parents on engaging in meaningful conversations, building resilience and developing emotional maturity to become thriving adults. The Cyber Safety Project assisted parents in navigating online tools and strategies to develop fundamental digital safety and wellbeing.

We continued to have access to extensive information and resources about relevant topics (mental health, cybersafety, school survival, healthy body, positive parenting, and other special reports) impacting parents and students at mentonegrammar.schooltv.me/

Thank you to our caring therapy dogs, Lenny, Scout, and Darcy, who have provided unconditional care and support in 2022.

ROBERTS HEAD OF STUDENT WELLBEING