Assistant Principal - Mission - Staff and Student Wellbeing

Many lessons have come from the past few weeks where our community was thrown a curve ball and flung into lockdown with very little notice. As a College community I feel we adapted to a different way of learning in a very positive manner. This smooth transition, I believe, is due largely to the competency of our staff and the resilience of our students and parents.

Dr Karen Gallaty of CBT Professionals sights Dr Ginsburg (child paediatrician and human development expert) work by proposing that there are 7 integral and interrelated components that make up being resilient – competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping and control. Her list includes:

1. Competence – is the ability to know how to handle stressful situations effectively. It requires having the skills to face challenges, and having had the opportunity to practice using these skills so that one feels competent in dealing with situations.
   
   
2. Confidence – is the belief in one’s own abilities and is rooted in competence. Children gain confidence by being able to demonstrate their competence in real situations.
   
   
3. Connection – children with close ties to friends, family, and community groups are likely to have a stronger sense of security and sense of belonging. These children are more likely to have strong values and are less likely to seek out alternative destructive behaviours.
   
   
4. Character – children with “character” enjoy a strong sense of self-worth and confidence. They are in touch with their values and are comfortable sticking to them. They can demonstrate a caring attitude towards others. They have a strong sense of right and wrong and are prepared to make wise choices and contribute to the world.
   
   
5. Contribution – if children can experience personally contributing to the world, they can learn the powerful lesson that the world is a better place because they are in it. Hearing the thank you’s and appreciation when your child contributes, will increase their willingness to take actions and make choices that improve the world, thereby enhancing their own competence, character, and sense of connection.
   
   
6. Control – when children realise that they have control over their decisions and actions, they are more likely to know how to make choices in a way that they can bounce back from life’s challenges.

Resilience helps young people navigate the obstacles they encounter as they grow. It’s not possible to avoid stress, but being resilient is one of the best ways to cope with it.

This week has seen us come back to ‘a new normal’, if only for a week. The upcoming holidays will hopefully allow us to take a breath, relax and regroup to finish off the year with Term 4.

Until next term:

‘Success is not final,

Failure is not final,

It is the courage to continue that counts.’

W.S.Churchill

Stay safe and God Bless