Emmanuel College Warrnambool eNewsletter

Welcome to Words for Wellbeing

To our Emmanuel College Community,

Welcome to the fourth and final edition of the quarterly, Words for Wellbeing for 2023 - Christmas Edition!

Words for Wellbeing includes all six components of the Fit4Life Framework: Social; Mental; Cultural; Cognitive; Physical; and, Spiritual.

Within each section, you'll discover articles, self-help tools and resources.

At the end of the newsletter, you'll find an updated list of school and external services and contacts for your information which may be useful over the holidays.

We Wish You A Merry Wellbeing Christmas!

Our Fit4Life Wellbeing Team at Emmanuel College wish all our staff, students and families a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the New Year. We hope you take some time to reflect on the year that has been, and be present in the moment during the big events leading up to the end of the year.

We look forward to meeting the new Year 7's in 2024, and continue to work with our current students and staff next year. Enjoy the break, see you next year!

What have our Wellbeing Team Members been up to?

Claire: Claire has had an incredible year bringing so many wonderful new programs and initiatives to the Emmanuel community. The Red Earth Immersion program is now an official part of the Emmanuel calendar thanks to Claire's passion and drive. Claire has strived to include as many wellbeing programs across all student year levels and staff to optimise our understanding of and capacity to prioritise our health and wellbeing. We feel so grateful to have such an inspiring role model at the head of our team.

Rachele: Our very clever Rach recently presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education. Rach is an avid learner and when not at school is working on her PhD at Melbourne University where she also teaches all things Wellbeing! We feel so very lucky having her lead our fabulous team.

Jodie: Another big year of study for Jodie this year, completing her Diploma of Positive Psychology and Diploma of Meditation Teacher Training. She has also been busy spreading the ripple effect of flourishing through her collaboration "The Being Well Collective". Jodie's passion within her work is infectious, how lucky are we to have someone with such a wealth of knowledge and experience in her field of expertise?!

Megan: Megan has also had a very busy time recently completing 5 years of part-time study to finish her Masters of Counselling - congratulations Megan, we know you'll bring all of your fabulous new learning into your role in 2024. It was a big year for Megan in other ways too as she celebrated a very special birthday this year.

Caroline: Caroline joined the Wellbeing Team in 2023 with great gusto and we're excited that she will provide a permanent presence in 2024. Caroline thrives in this space and loved completing the Youth Mental Health First Aid Certificate this year. She is currently enjoying “12 Days of Flourishing” program run by the Being Well Collective and she looks after her own Wellbeing by regularly rollerskating.

Alice: Alice has been busy splitting her compassion and care between Wellbeing at Emmanuel and her paediatric nursing career, and is looking forward to completing further study in Post Graduate - Paediatric Nursing in 2024. Although Alice won't be in the Wellbeing team next year, we'll be looking forward to seeing her beautiful face at Emmanuel College as a casual staff member, and will miss her very much. You may see her on camps and Fit4Life Days next year with a few admin days too!

Social Wellbeing

Developing the skills to navigate social connections and relationships is a significant part of adolescent development. In this section you will find a selection of resources not only to support young people throughout this stage of life, but that may assist all of us in the varied relationships within our lives.

Strong Girls

Each Wednesday, a group of girls all go into the chapel and we do heaps of different activities. Each week is different but we always look forward to it. It’s always so much fun and the highlight of my week. We love having Rachele, Jo, Jodie and Megan talking to us and answering any questions asked.

I have loved going to Strong Girls every week because there is such an amazing group of girls. We have learnt different things about each other and made connections with people we wouldn’t usually talk to. We can talk about anything without feeling judged or worried that it will get repeated to anyone else.

Strong Girls is a safe space and we have all loved it

Jaylah Moloney, Yr 9 student

Staff Walking Club

In Term 4, Wellbeing team member Caroline Garner commenced a staff walking club. An easy twenty minute walk around the local streets once a week has been a morale booster, fun and good for our mental health. Regardless of how busy we all are here at Emmanuel, it's been a great activity and habit to form.

We plan to run Walking Club again in 2024!

Mental Wellbeing

Mental health is a term we often hear, yet often confuse with other terms, such as mental illness. We all have varying degrees of mental health. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood but aiming for 'good' mental health isn't enough. What if we were to aim to be flourishing instead! Building a strong mental health foundation is very important, but in this section, we share a variety of topical articles, resources and self-help tools for you to build on that foundation, to help you to flourish in your life.

"Mo Day" at Emmanuel College

Movember is an annual event to raise awareness of men’s health issues, particularly men’s mental health, suicide, testicular and prostate cancer.

Emmanuel College wanted to support the message however growing a moustache doesn’t quite fit in with our clean shaven uniform policy! So instead we asked students and staff to wear a faux mo. There’s much fun to be had when wearing a fake moustache! There were quite a lot of giggles at Wellbeing where students were able to collect a lollipop, provided they were wearing a mo, of course. Our staff hammed it up, including those affectionately known as Mo and JoMo.

We discovered on “Mo Day” that having some silliness is sometimes the best way to highlight a serious issue, as well as create a great vibe around our school. It’s fabulous when our community comes together to support initiatives like Movember.

Mo Day Photos

If you are having a tough time, eheadspace is here to provide support wherever you are, when you need it with the aim of feeling heard, informed and supported to build new skills to improve your mental health and wellbeing.

eheadspace is a national online or phone mental health support service for young people aged 12 to 25, and for family who are seeking support about how to help a young person (aged 12-25) in their life.

Check out the link below to their wonderful website which is a great resource to have in your toolkit, and a good option if you or your child needs support over the summer break.

Connect with a Mental Health Clinician online

Managing Mental Health Challenges During Holidays

Check out this short online article from Calm 'n' Caring about how to manage any mental health challenges that tend to arise over the holiday period. It includes a few handy strategies that can help overcome these difficulties, and the website is also a wonderful resource for you to browse through.

Calm 'n' Caring

Free Youth Mental Health First Aid Training

Youth Mental Health First Aid Training for 18-25 year olds being held in Port Fairy in February next year. See details below for more info on this great opportunity from Moyne Shire Council and associates.

Moyne Shire YMHFA

Cultural Wellbeing

Cultural Health refers to having a deep awareness of your personal culture and life experiences and understanding how they influence your value system, worldview, and practices; recognizing and respecting the culture and life experiences of others and intentionally taking time to empathize with, understand, and respect other perspectives. Ultimately, it refers to appreciating a diversity of culture and experiences and working with others to enhance personal and community well-being through culturally responsive action.

Join the Moyne Youth Parliament!

Are you passionate about making a difference in your community? If so, expressions of Interest are now open to join the 2024 Moyne NextGen! Youth Parliament Team. Youth Parliament is a platform for young voices to be heard, ideas to be shared, and change made. It's an incredible opportunity to learn, grow and create a positive impact on the issues that matter most to you.

Youth Parliament is an annual residential program run by the YMCA that draws together 20 teams (each comprised of 6 young people aged 16-25) from across Victoria to advocate for issues that matter to them. Across the span of 5 months, participants will learn about the Victorian legislative system, develop advocacy and community leadership skills, and create and debate their own proposed legislation (Bill) on an issue that they are passionate about.

All program costs including accommodation and transport to the residential camps and youth parliament week will be covered by Moyne Shire Council through the Victorian Government ENGAGE! funds.

Register your interest via the link below, by Monday 1 January 2024.

Moyne Youth Parliament

Ignite All Ages Music Festival

Check out this local all ages music event occurring over the summer holidays on Saturday 3rd Feb 2024, right here in Warrnambool at the Civic Green. Ignite is the first of its kind in the region that has bands of all ages, genres and genders to celebrate mostly unknown performers that play original music.

Genres include metal, punk, alternative, country, hip hop, blues, psychedelic, rock and singer/songwriter. There is something for everyone and is a family friendly event.

For more information and to buy tickets, click on the link

Ignite Music Festival

Ignite Festival 2024

Emmanuel Day - Wellbeing Style

At the end of last term Emmanuel College celebrated Emmanuel Day, with the theme being Jungle Party. Our wellbeing team dressed up in onesies as a sloth, lion, cheetah and giraffe and ran a drumming activity with our school drums.

Cognitive Wellbeing

Cognitive brain health refers to brain function such as attention, learning, memory, language and executive function. This includes higher order functions, like decision-making, goal-setting, planning and judgment.

In the education setting, optimal cognitive functioning assists with learning. In this section, you will find information related to a variety of ways to maintain and enhance our cognitive health.

Warrnambool Moyne TAC L2P Program

There are young people in our community who have no access to a vehicle or a reliable mentor to teach them to drive and are unable to achieve 120 hours of driving practice to apply for a probationary licence. The TAC L2P Program matches learners from 16-21 years old with a fully-licensed volunteer driver and practice vehicle to help them gain driving experience.

Before being matched with a volunteer Driver Mentor, learners participating in the program have access to up to seven free driving lessons throughout the program with a professional instructor.

This helps learners build their skills before getting on the road with a volunteer mentor and continue progressing through the four stages of the Graduated Licensing System.

Learners need to meet the following criteria to join the TAC L2P program:

- be between 16 and 21 years old (in some cases up to 23)
- hold a current learner permit
- have no access to a vehicle or a supervising driver
- live in Warrnambool or Moyne local government areas

Find out more information, including the application form for this great program below

Brophy - TAC L2P Program

Year 11 Fit4Life Day

This term on Tuesday 31st October, our Year 11's attended their Fit4Life Day with the theme being "whole of self wellbeing - preparing for the next leg of the journey (Year 12)". The goals of the day were for students to strengthen their connections with peers, explore respectful relationships, take a mental health fitness challenge, and to be inspired to keep trying even when they fall.

In the morning students moved around in house groups through workshops on healthy relationships, intimacy & consent, mental health, nutrition and wellbeing and a house amazing race challenge. These workshops provided students with relevant information and strategies that they can use in a practical sense when facing various situations that present for young people throughout their lives.

In the afternoon guest speaker Paul Watkins held the students captivated by his story of failure and success, sharing his experiences in training and competing at an international adventure challenge in the Arctic circle.

Free Music Recording Opportunity

This January Moyne NextGen are turning up the volume on creativity with the launch of the Moyne Sessions Pop-Up Recording Studio and Song Writing Workshops for young artists 25 years and under from South West Vic.

Participating artists will receive:

Professionally produced track(s)

A video clip of one song

Written feedback from Universal Music Group Australia (original recordings only)

Song writing intensive and song polishing workshop with internationally acclaimed songwriter and producer Cameron Deyell (Sia/Missy Higgins/Liars/Lior)

Sessions will run between 22-28 January 2024. Applications close Monday 8 January 2024.

Pop Up Recording Studio Program

Physical Wellbeing

Physical activity is a great way to keep you physically healthy as well as improving your mental wellbeing. Research shows that doing exercise releases feel-good chemicals called endorphins in the brain. Even a short burst of 10 minutes brisk walking can improve your mental alertness, energy and mood.

Whether you’re tending your garden or running a marathon, exercise can significantly improve your quality of life. Finding an activity you enjoy can make you feel less stressed, more focused, and give you a sense of purpose.

In this section, you'll find some other interesting tools to care for your physical health.

Respect Cup

A few weeks ago, the Emmanuel Respect Cup team travelled to Trinity College in Colac to partake in the Respect Cup. The Respect Cup team was decided by our Fit4Life teachers, who selected the best Respect Effect project from each homeroom. The Respect Effect projects addressed various social justice issues and we worked on them earlier in the year. Once the Respect Cup team was decided, we all came together to create and implement another project. This ended up being a combination of some of the group member’s Respect Effect projects which focused on domestic violence. We named our project ‘No Excuse for Abuse’ and presented it at Trinity College on the Respect Cup day.

The Respect Cup day involved Emmanuel, Mercy, and Trinity Colleges all sharing our projects with each other and a panel of special guests, and a series of round-robin netball games. We also listened to a presentation from one of the guest speakers which addressed gender equality. For the round-robin netball, Emmanuel split up into two teams. Unfortunately, neither team made it to the finals but our presentation went really well and we all had a great day meeting new people and got a lot out of the experience.

Tom Bellman & Georgia Ierodiaconou, Year 9.

WRAD Support for Families

WRAD recently has seen an increase in calls from parents seeking family support with their child using / experimenting with drugs or alcohol. WRAD are interested to see if there is any way they can address the gap in families accessing support.

Whilst WRAD provide a service to the young person, they feel that they could also be proactive in supporting parents .

See attached flyer for WRAD contact details.

WRAD Contact Details.pdf

Spiritual Wellbeing

Spiritual wellbeing is often a misunderstood concept. It refers not to any particular religious or spiritual practice or ideology but to the human need for meaning, purpose and connection to something greater than ourselves. In this section, we aim to share information about different things that allow us to connect to one another, nature and to ourselves.

Mindful Meditation

Weekly meditation continued at Rice campus on Monday and McAuley campus on Wednesday morning led by school psychologist Dr Jodie Fleming.

Port Fairy SUFM

Port Fairy SUFM operates out of the Botanic Gardens in Port Fairy, hosting yearly programs for families in the town.

All of their volunteers are committed Christians who give their own time and resources to be a part of the program, out of a desire to share God’s love, as expressed through the sending of His Son, Jesus Christ.

The program runs annually in the Port Fairy Botanic Gardens. Across the day they run a morning program with music, dramas and age group activities, and a daily community event in the afternoon.

They’ve got something for everyone from preschool to parents, so bring the whole family over to see what they’re all about!

Port Fairy SUFM Flyer