Wellbeing Update | Term 1, 2023
I would like to introduce parents and carers to Little Lessons - a series of short films, created specifically for our Mac.Rob community, that are aimed to help you support your child’s development of strong mental health.
Our first Little Lesson is titled, “It takes a village to raise a child”. This provides a brief outline of the ways in which our school community hopes to contribute to your child’s development, and our hope that you, as parents and carers, will form a significant part of our school community. You can find this Little Lesson embedded below.
We will release eight Little Lessons over the course of this year, all of which will be accessible via our Family Portal. Keep an eye out in Term 2 for our second Little Lesson, “The Four Pillars of Wellbeing”.
During 2023, we will also provide parents and carers with a number of new resources aimed at helping you to connect with your children, and to build their emotional intelligence, resilience and independence. You’ll find all of these resources on our Family Portal - we’ll let you know when we release them.
Wellbeing continues to be a strong focus at Mac.Rob in 2023. Our Connect program has extended this year, with students receiving one 45-minute lesson per week, which involves the delivery of our wellbeing curriculum, plus a second 15-minute check-in lesson each week. These lessons allow staff and students to build connections with each other, and a sense of belonging within our school community. At the same time, students are able to access a wellbeing curriculum that has been specifically designed for the Mac.Rob community. Connect in Term 1 has focussed on our first pillar of wellbeing - Foundations for Mental Health. The curriculum has featured lessons on connection, belonging, assertiveness, and career planning. In Term 2, we will focus on another of our pillars of wellbeing - Independence. Students will undertake a number of lessons that aim to improve their learning and study skills, helping them to become independent, growth-focussed learners.
Beni Billimoria
Social Worker / Mac.Rob Wellbeing Team
We have expanded our Counselling Team in 2023, as we welcome Beni Billimoria, a Social Worker with extensive experience in providing counselling support to young people in school settings. Beni brings particular insight into the experiences of students who come from diverse cultural backgrounds, and we are very grateful to have her join us. The Counselling Team continues to provide high-quality, solutions-focussed support to students experiencing mental health difficulties that are affecting their capacity to learn. In addition, several members of our team are visiting Year 10 Health classes in the coming weeks, for our “Ask a Therapist” lessons - these provide students with an opportunity to anonymously ask questions of our team, and to receive answers that are honest, reliable, and professional.
We have also inducted all new staff into our wellbeing approach at Mac.Rob, providing professional learning about the ways that we are striving to create a community that creates and sustains wellbeing amongst students.
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or feedback about wellbeing at Mac.Rob, at bridget.mcpherson@macrob.vic.edu.au.
Best wishes for a wonderful school holiday break! I look forward to continuing our work with you and your children over the course of 2023.
Dr Bridget McPherson, Head of Wellbeing and Engagement