MAITLAND All Saints College, St Peter's Campus (2012) - Catholic ...

Student Welfare
The Pastoral Care dimension at St Peter’s endeavours to discover the life needs of students and to provide them with every
opportunity to value self and to experience well-being. The fostering of quality interpersonal relationships among teachers,
students, parents and support staff is a responsibility shared by everyone.
In 2012, St Peter’s has continued to fulfil this philosophy by developing a respectful, secure and healthy environment in which
students can grow and mature. This is achieved through a variety of means. In 2012, students participated in a Community Day
each term organised by the Pastoral Care Coordinator and the Student Coordinator of that year. These days are programmed to
address a particular need in the particular year group using the “Achieve” program as a foundation. This program looks at
equipping children with the skills that will help them achieve in school and throughout life, across a range of areas including
Organisation, Getting Along, Confidence, Persistence and Resilience, by developing positive “habits of the mind”. Tutor Group
Teachers are a part of the organisation process for these days. Year Seven had an additional fortnightly pastoral care lesson to
help with their transition into high school. The Principal, Assistant Principals, Student, Pastoral Support and Pastoral Care
Coordinators, School Counsellors, Learning Support Coordinator, Careers Advisor and the Pastoral Support workers worked
closely as the Pastoral Care Team to support the needs of the school community.
St Peter’s has been fortunate to have had some amazing guest speakers come to the school and address the students. On
Monday, 5 th March, a truly motivational young man spoke to Year 9 and 10 students. His name is Sam Cawthorn. His passion,
‘resilience’, his drive and determination and his life stories had all the students mesmerized. He related his life story - of how he
overcame a car accident to triumph over losing his limbs, and be able to travel the world to tell his story. Other guest presenters
have included Brett Murray with a half day Anti Bullying seminar; Brainstorm production ‘Cyberia’ on cybersafety; and for Year 10,
a laptop training day with a focus on Digital Health, Cyber Ethics, Digital Organisation and One Note software training.
In 2012 St Peter’s introduced a program called Rock & Water as the Term 1 ‘sport’ program for the Year 7 students, following the
training of Mr Venables and Mr Whereat in this program. The Rock & Water program develops skills for psycho-physical social
teaching with boys and girls. Physical exercises are constantly linked with mental and social skills. It begins with simple selfdefence,
boundary and communication exercises which lead to strong notions of self-confidence. The program offers a framework
of exercises and ideas to assist students to become aware of their purpose and motivation in life. Safety, integrity, solidarity, selfcontrol,
self-confidence and self-respect are the focus areas. This has been of particular support to a number of Year 7 students
who have demonstrated a need to reconnect with the concepts later in the year.
Identified students with specific needs also have access to a variety of support services including Counselling and Peer Support. In
2012, several specific programs were continued in the areas of organisation, bullying, mentoring, boys and relationships and
career education through Joblink Plus, Youth Connections. Identified students accessed these programs through the Emmaus
Centre or on recommendation. Students also had the opportunity to work in the school’s Emmaus Centre on individualised
programs that develop students’ skills in the above “Achieve” areas. Parents have communicated their satisfaction in relation to
fairness, inclusiveness and caring for the individual as part of their children’s wellbeing at St Peter’s.
Professional development of staff is essential in supporting the wellbeing of our students. The key focus areas for this year have
been in the areas of restorative practices, mental health, well-being and improving resilience. To this end, the whole school staff
attended an in-service in March Building Wellbeing Environments with Restorative Practices facilitated by Maurizio Vespa who has
many years of expertise in this field and a long association with Marist schools. Two of our Student Coordinators (Pastoral)
attended Youth Mental Health First Aid 2 day course and Generation Next conference respectively.
Generation Next is an exciting new initiative providing resources aimed at protecting and enhancing the wellbeing of our children
and teenagers. Information from this conference was incorporated into the Year 8 Community Day in September. Two members of
staff also completed the Rock & Water 3 day training this year as part of our commitment to and ongoing support for the program
over the next few years.
In 2012, the promotion and building of our “House” system to encompass all aspects of schooling - academic, sporting and cultural
continued. Individual students were awarded points for participation in each of these aspects and each Semester the highest
scoring students were awarded canteen vouchers. House points were also based on participation in the athletics and swimming
carnivals, and extra–curricular team participation e.g. Fundraisers; Chemistry competitions.
The progress scores were displayed on our web site and regularly updated. The 2012 Champion House was for the third year -
Murray House. In late November, staff patrons and student members of the champion house were treated to a special fun activity
excursion for their contribution. Banners and flags, purchased in 2010, have been displayed at each of our sporting carnivals and
at our Year Graduation Mass evening and Annual Award Presentation evening. The competition for Champion House is increasing
with greater participation in activities in 2012.
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