Nor'West News: October 31, 2017

4 Tuesday October 31 2017
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Your Local Views
Principal’s uplifting spring message
St Margaret’s
College
executive
principal Gillian
Simpson writes
about the
importance of
young people
looking after their mental
health in the modern world
SPRING BRINGS light and
hope with each day as we watch
bulbs emerge from winter sleep.
Blossom and leaf buds promise
new life. Children and lambs
frolic in the warming sunshine
and we look to spring clean
our homes. Perhaps we need
to spring clean our minds and
bodies too.
Everywhere we are bombarded
with messages about well-being
and mental health as major
issues for the western world.
Post-earthquake Christchurch
has its own issues around posttraumatic
stress and we are still
seeing evidence of this in our St
Margaret’s College community.
We appear to be in search of
a hedonistic “happiness”, which
is often material, superficial and
fleeting. There is much current
research that indicates that true
“happiness”, which is deep and
sustained and leads to lifelong
EMPOWER: Young people are encouraged to look after
their mental health and well-being.
well-being, can be attained only
through living a life with gratitude
and compassion for others.
We worry for the well-being
of our young women in a world
where they look for instant
gratification, constant reassurance
and affirmation in their
search for perfection.
Social media has contributed
to the rising anxiety and feelings
of inadequacy for many vulnerable
teenagers. Social media has
provided another vehicle for
unkind and negative behaviours
to damage our young women’s
self-esteem.
Pastoral care and well-being
programmes are challenged
in all sectors and St Margaret’s
College is constantly reviewing
and adapting practices and
programmes to best support our
students, parents and staff to live
well and thrive. We are currently
undergoing a full review
of our well-being systems and
programmes. We keep teachers
abreast of the latest trends,
research and best educational
practice.
The new St Margaret’s College
website has a link to a parent
resource page where we share
helpful and supportive links and
ideas with parents.
The St Margaret’s College
graduate profile attributes have
been developed by the staff and
the trust board and identified as
important to well-being and success,
empowering young women
to “live and lead”.
A message for young people –
just try these simple things:
Take time to breathe and feel
your life giving breath.
Take time to grieve and feel the
pain – that’s OK.
Take time to heal and regain
your strength.
Take time to listen to your
heart and to others.
Take time to think and reflect
and learn.
Take time to be brave and
stand for what you believe.
Take time to give and to serve
others as it is in giving that we
receive.
Take time to love as it is in
loving that we are loved.
Take time to be thankful for
true gratitude brings peace and
happiness.
Take time to find the positive
and the beauty in this
world.
Take time to just “be” the
beautiful girl you are.
You make this world a better
place for your being in it.
Love yourself unconditionally.
NOR’WEST NEWS
Readers respond to an
article about the completion
of the Western Belfast
Bypass in the coming weeks
Mike Allfrey – Hopefully it
will end the bottleneck between
the Clearwater roundabout and
The Groynes when travelling
north.
Judith Thomas – I think they
should have built a new bridge
further west instead of making the
traffic faster in the old area with
another lane on the old bridge.
Andrew Bray – Maybe if they
work weekends they would have
finished it sooner.
Joanne Churcher – It was
actually due to be completed next
March – check the New Zealand
Transport Agency website – so
they are well ahead.