Providing Personalised Care For Student Wellbeing
Macquarie College welcomes its new Assistant Principal of Student Wellbeing, Mr Aaron Hodges. Mr Hodges was most recently Head of Campus at St Philip’s Christian College DALE at the Waratah Campus. Here we share an overview of student wellbeing at Macquarie College in 2021.
Student Wellbeing at Macquarie College has been designed to support the mental health, personal wellbeing and academic development of each student of the College, with the vision being to support our students to flourish for life.
Wellbeing, however, is far more than the absence of mental distress or disorder and is essential to a student’s learning and development as well as academic success. Scientific research has identified that learning and wellbeing are inextricably linked and, with this in mind, each Macquarie College staff member is dedicated towards providing personalised care for every student, with the aim of authentically integrating wellbeing into their academic and classroom experience.
Wellbeing Team
The Wellbeing team comprises a multi-tiered approach to monitoring, guiding and caring for each student. The team includes homeroom teachers, year and stage leaders, Chaplaincy, Counselling and MC Learn teams, as well as the Assistant Principal for Student Wellbeing (Aaron Hodges, pictured here). This team works proactively within the relevant Student Wellbeing Policy to support the whole person. We aim to ensure that each student is equipped and supported to flourish physically, emotionally, socially, mentally and spiritually, taking into account their individual needs and circumstances.
Invictus Wellbeing Institute
The Invictus Wellbeing Program is a mental fitness and resiliency course that has been recognised Internationally, with our homegrown program being rolled out in over 25 schools in Australia, New Zealand and Vanuatu. For four years, students are given a practical experience of positive psychology, combined with ongoing outdoor education and regular memory events that have been custom made in order for students to harness skills and ways of thinking that will promote resilience and wellbeing for the rest of their lives.
The program combines outdoor education, skill mastery, soft skill acquisition and service-learning to encourage participants to develop the type of outlook that enables them to live lives defined by self-confidence, curiosity, empathy and compassion. During each element, students are invited to take part in a significant memory event that epitomises the life lessons learnt in the corresponding segment of the curriculum.
Camps and Outdoor Education
Outdoor Education at Macquarie College focuses on programs that develop student’s communication, decision making, problem-solving, mental toughness, team building, leadership and a sense of self-confidence. The College’s Outdoor Education program is developed, managed and run by Macquarie College staff, which facilitates relationship development between staff and students. Each camp is designed to positively enhance a student’s education, as well as giving them an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of Christian values and teaching.
Homeroom
At Macquarie College, the provision of a strong pastoral approach is seen as an integral part of each student's experience. Every student is allocated a Homeroom teacher who connects with them on a daily basis and knows each student individually.
Individualised Support
Student Wellbeing is focused on providing individualised care to support students’ mental health, personal wellbeing and the academic development of each student of the College. Macquarie College is committed to providing a safe, inclusive environment, as well as student wellbeing activities that support the development of the student holistically.
Mental Health Support
Research has identified that learning and wellbeing are inextricably linked. As a result, it is the College’s aim to support the mental health needs of our community authentically. As a College, it is our hope that we can support families by providing reliable and psychologically accurate information.
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