Term 3 - Week 5 - 23rd August 2024

In the last newsletter, I introduced the Resilience Project. The Resilience Project is committed to teaching positive mental health strategies to prevent mental ill-health and build young people’s capacity to deal with adversity. Each week in the Pastoral Care lesson, the students undertake activities around the key principles of Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness (GEM) and Emotional Literacy to build resilience. For the last two weeks, the students have been reflecting on gratitude and thankful for their blessings. Below is an activity that considers gratitude as a family. 

Gratitude

Working on gratitude helps us be thankful and appreciate what we have rather than focusing on what we don’t have or want. When we practise being grateful, we start to scan the world to look for positives – this only takes 21 days! Practising gratitude every day increases our levels of energy and helps us to feel happier and more focused, determined and optimistic. It even allows us to have a better sleep, lowers levels of anxiety and depression, and we are less likely to get sick. There are so many benefits – let’s all try to be grateful for the things and people in our lives every day!

Whole Family Activity: Gratitude Scavenger Hunt

As a family, create a scavenger hunt list of things that make you happy or you are grateful for; you can make your own list or use the examples below:

• Something that makes you happy

• Something you love to smell

• Something you enjoy looking at

• Something that is your favourite colour

• Something you like in nature

• Something that is useful for you

Each member of the family uses the list and has to find as many things as they can. You can hunt for things inside or outside, or both. You can hunt for real things or do this using magazines or pictures from the internet. After a set amount of time hunting, come back together, have a look at what each person collected and let them explain why they are grateful for each item.

Family Habit Builder:

Every night at dinner, have each person talk about their favourite thing about that day.

Anti-Bullying Week 

Students thrive in safe environments that promote positive relationships, safety and wellbeing so they can achieve their full potential.

At McAuley Catholic College, we define bullying as an ongoing misuse of power in relationships. It is intended, and its repeated use causes harm, distress and fear. It may be verbal, physical or social behaviour involving individuals or groups.

• Bullying can happen in person or online, and it can be overt (done openly) or covert (hidden)

• Bullying will probably continue if no action is taken.

• Bullying is not the same as conflict or social dislike, even though, in some cases, the outcome of both can be bullying.

Our anti-bullying policy states that the school will take reasonable actions to develop plans and implement programs to deter bullying. Throughout the year, we have undertaken the following: 

Pastoral Care Program – each student participates in a pastoral care program that their homeroom teacher leads. Students are expected to meet each week for a pastoral care lesson. Students engage in activities and discussions during these lessons to reinforce positive relationships. Anti-bullying messages are consistently offered with the support of contemporary research, including relevant media use and appropriate educational material.

Restorative Justice Program - The college strives to follow a process of Restorative Justice when dealing with behavioural issues. Restorative Justice endeavours to,

• Focus on the SPECIFIC BEHAVIOURS or INCIDENTS without blaming
  
  
• Draw out WHO WAS AFFECTED and HOW THEY WERE AFFECTED
  
  
• Direct questions towards the central issue in order to solve what needs to happen to MAKE THINGS RIGHT

Year Meetings – each cohort meets regularly with their Year Coordinator. This gives the Year Coordinators an opportunity to consistently convey the message that inappropriate behaviours will not be accepted and encourage reporting to staff if it does occur. Amongst other things, the intention is to eradicate the notion of ‘dobbing’ related to bullying issues and reinforce it as necessary ‘reporting’.

Assemblies—The whole College community generally meets weekly to celebrate students' achievements and successes. This is another opportunity for the College to reinforce its zero-tolerance policy toward bullying and encourage positive relationships and a culture of care.

Last week, all students in Years 7 - 10 undertook the following: 

Structured Lesson on Bullying - This was undertaken in Religious Education classes. During this lesson, the students were shown the 2024 Tell Them From Me Data on Bullying. 

They were prompted to consider what the data was telling us, and discussions and teaching took place on what constitutes bullying and its effects. Students were then given options to have their say. All students in Years 7 - 10 undertook the Student 

Bullying Surveys – all students were given the opportunity to partake in the Bullying Survey. Students could anonymously name any other students they feel are being victimised or displaying inappropriate behaviours towards others. Importantly, the survey allows the College to support those students named in the surveys, and follow-up occurs through either the relevant Year Coordinator or the Pastoral Care Coordinator.

The students were also reminded that they can seek support from staff at any time if bullying is occurring. They can also access the Bully Free form on their intranet site and suggest processes that can be improved to help students feel safe at school.  

Brainstorm Productions - The Flipside

This coming Thursday, the 29th, and Friday, the 30th of August, Brainstorm Productions will present their student wellbeing performance, ‘The Flipside, ’ for Years 7 -10. The Flipside is a live theatre experience that addresses (cyber) bullying, online safety, digital citizenship, bystander behaviour, and online ethics. The performance highlights the importance of personal responsibility, empathy, respect, and values in the online and offline worlds. Real student experiences are woven together to create a compelling story that poses questions about how we treat ourselves and others.

‘The Flipside’ is part of our student wellbeing curriculum and was developed by education and mental health professionals. The performance is supported by curriculum-aligned classroom activities that spark further discussion around these issues.

Brainstorm Productions is one of Australia’s most experienced and respected theatre in education companies, performing for over 260,000 students annually. They offer a range of programs to help schools nurture healthy and harmonious environments, addressing issues such as mental health, online safety, bullying and resilience, and are endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner as a Trusted eSafety Provider. Learn more about Brainstorm Productions by visiting their website (brainstormproductions.edu.au), or following them on Instagram (@brainstormproductions_), Facebook (@Brainstorm.Productions) or LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/brainstormproductions).

McAuley Day 

McAuley Day will be held on Friday, September 6th.

This day of celebration acknowledges our Mercy traditions and the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, Catherine McAuley. The day will include a McAuley Day Liturgy starting at 9:30 a.m., to which we extend an invitation to any parents and carers who wish to attend.

McAuley Day is one of the highlights of our school year. It is a day when we celebrate our traditions and come together as a community of Faith and Action. The day will include a range of activities and events, and each homeroom will run a fundraising activity. Money raised on the day will support Mercy Works programs the Sisters of Mercy run. 

Mercy Works aims to improve the lives of vulnerable communities. They believe everyone has the right to education, health care and social welfare, regardless of where they live. Starting in our own country and expanding to our nearest neighbours, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Timor-Leste, Mercy Works run world-class programs that partner with challenged communities to enjoy the right to these basic resources. An example of a current project is famine relief in West Papua New Guinea. https://www.mercyworks.org.au/famine-relief-west-papua-new-guinea/

We encourage all students to participate in their homeroom and plan for this day. This is a day of social justice, where we come together to put others first. We ask students to bring a small amount of money to participate in the homeroom stalls and contribute to the fundraising for Mercy Works.

MCC Resources and Information

NSW Public Sector Apprentices and Trainees Program (suitable for current Year 12 School Leavers). Individuals can apply initially by completing a 25-question survey about skills and interest areas.

There is a long list of varied qualifications that can be considered by students.