Wellbeing at the College

With the well-deserved long weekend for both staff and students behind us, we are back on campus and the College is operating ‘normally’, it seems timely to re-introduce you to our student wellbeing programs. Lake Joondalup Baptist College has been a front runner of Wellbeing Education since 2015; long before COVID-19 landed in Australia and sharpened our focus on the importance of wellbeing in society, generally. After the Student Services team’s visit to Melbourne seven years ago, our program of taught lessons has evolved to provide in-depth coverage of a variety of wellbeing topics (wellbeing dynamics, mindfulness, character strengths, resilience, growth/fixed mindsets, seeking help, meaning and purpose etc.).

Our Wellbeing curriculum equips our students with the knowledge and skills to help them manage their own wellbeing and support others with theirs. Our wellbeing programs are hopefully a preventative against mental health issues going forward. It’s this long-term perspective on the value of wellbeing programs which is essential. Mission Australia surveys show that stress and mental health are the major concerns for 15–19 year-olds. By virtue of this component of their education, Lake Joondalup Baptist College students will be armed with a ‘Wellbeing Toolkit’ which may well make a crucial difference when dealing with life’s challenges, well beyond their final wellbeing lesson in Year 9.

SchoolTV

In addition to the variety of wellbeing programs which exist across the College, we have SchoolTV as a wellbeing resource for parents and teachers at the College. Parents are encouraged to view the SchoolTV topics which they feel are especially pertinent to their child and can access this resource on the College Portal or by the link below. We hope that parents might find this SchoolTV focus upon school transitions helpful and supportive.

Our Student Services is designed to ensure that Heads of House – the everyday custodians of student wellbeing – are well resourced to monitor and manage the wellbeing of their students. In addition to ongoing 1:1 pastoral conversation with students, we are investigating ways for us to use SchoolTV to address key wellbeing issues, throughout the year.

If you have any questions related to our wellbeing programs, please do not hesitate to contact me or your respective Head of House. When our high numbers in COVID decrease and we are allowed to have bigger functions again, we plan to host parent information evenings to explain the programs in further detail but at this stage we invite questions from parents about Wellbeing Education at LJBC.

Helen Del Frate

Dean of Students