Why Wellbeing?

No one can confidently predict the future…although we can usually make pretty sound guesses based on experience. Yet 2022 is potentially more difficult to predict than any previous year. We simply do not know how the year will unfold.

For many people, this uncertainty is destabilising and it adds another layer of stress to their lives. There can be no doubt that the past two COVID-impacted years have been stressful for most of our community, for a multitude of reasons—actually getting sick from COVID is just one of those worries…

And this is where our School, and particularly our Wellbeing Program, has an important role to play.

Our Wellbeing groups meet daily for a few minutes at the start of each day and meet fortnightly for a longer session. These times are vital for connection, engagement and relationship building and for learning about wellbeing and how it can positively impact our lives. Life does not happen to us—we play a role in making it happen!

The Wellbeing Program is designed for everyone and everybody can benefit from participating and learning about their wellbeing and how they can help themselves. We use a positive psychology- based program called PROSPER as the foundation of everything we do within the program. PROSPER gives us the framework to upskill students so they learn how to look after their wellbeing.

P = Purpose and meaning

R = Relationships

O = Outcomes

S = Strengths

P = Positive emotions

E = Engagement

R = Resilience

Of course, there are times when some students need additional, targeted support. We have excellent services and supports for anyone who is having difficulty coping with 2022.

Our mentor teachers deliver the PROSPER program. They are a consistent presence in the school life of students and they can be their first point of contact if students want some assistance. Our Heads of House help build the PROSPER program, support the mentor teachers and manage individual students in need. We also have our psychologist who offers counselling and another layer of support.

This year, we are introducing a new element to our Wellbeing support to give students another way to access support when they need it. The new program is called Skodel.

In Wellbeing groups on Wednesday mornings, students will be prompted to ‘check-in’ and answer three simple questions. The Wellbeing mentor will read the results and quickly know if a student is not okay. Heads of House can see the results for their House and senior leaders in the school will see the results for all students.

At an individual level – Skodel gives students a private, quiet way to raise a concern with their mentor and their Head of House.

In uncertain times, additional wellbeing support systems are important. While we continue to build everyone up through PROSPER, we know that some will need additional support and Skodel gives us another way for students to let us know when they need our help.

We look forward to seeing the positive impact of our Wellbeing program on the lives our students and the positive impact of Skodel in helping us help those who need it and in tracking the wellbeing of our students.

All the best for a positive 2022.

Peter Shepard

Head of Wellbeing