Supporting our College, Our Students and Our Wellbeing

Words by Sophea Manzl

Many studies have shown that contact with nature directly impacts students mental and physical wellbeing.”

When we think about fundraising at Loreto College, we often think of days such as Gonzaga Barry Day, the Walkathon, Christmas raffles and other charity fundraisers. Our Loreto Mission drives our strong culture for supporting the marginalised all over the world and fosters our inimitable Loreto spirit, this will never change.

However, what about fundraising for our school? For our current and future students, where is the need and where does the money go?

The heart of fundraising specifically for Loreto College is always focused on our students. When our community gives to the school, they are supporting our current and future students and helping us preserve our heritage. Parents, staff, alumnae, businesses, and other members of the community over the years have donated to our Annual Giving program to support the Scholarship, Bursary/Hardship and Building Funds. Our first major Capital Appeal between 2013 and 2015 brought to life the dream of the Mary’s Mount Centre Performing Arts Building, which now provides a wonderful state-of-the-art facility for our students and staff.

Funds from donations to the school have supported students and families in need to attend the College, provided academic and music scholarship opportunities for students, and enabled building improvements such as solar power, air conditioning, heating, and heritage preservation.

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic affected our whole world and continues to do so. Loreto prioritised support for our students and families in need and our 2020 Annual Giving program was dedicated to a Student Hardship Fund.

The challenging year of 2020 has reinforced the importance of student, staff and general community wellbeing. As a result, the College is undergoing a renovation of a section of the Mary Ward Centre to create a new Wellbeing Precinct. This precinct currently accommodates our Learning Hub, with counsellors and wellbeing staff soon to be relocated into the area. The Sensory Garden will have direct access from the Hub and will be a welcome addition to the support currently delivered in this area.

Therefore, in 2021 our major fundraising project is for something that the whole school will benefit from; a beautiful new Sensory Garden to support student wellbeing. Sensory gardens are specifically designed to provide a positive sensory experience surrounding the key senses. Many studies have shown that contact with nature directly impacts students mental and physical wellbeing. The stimulation and heightened awareness of the senses in the garden are designed to act as a stress relief, a calm place, a positive experience to promote wellbeing.

How does a sensory garden work? Think of your senses:

1. Touch: plants, materials and water will provide a range of tactile experiences.

2. Smell: consider plants with different types of smell - scents that fill the air, intimate scents that you need to get up close to, and activated scents that are released when parts of the plant are crushed. 3. Sound: provide natural sounds such as the sound of water. Encouragement of social interaction or silence and privacy.

4. Sight: Different textures, shapes, colours, patterns and reflected light will provide a rich sensory experience.

5. Proprioception and Vestibular: Climbing and lying down on the grass mound, swinging and spinning in hanging chairs, sitting within covered shelter, wandering through the garden.

The Sensory Garden will be located outside the Learning Hub in the development of a Wellbeing Precinct and will become a tranquil place to visit for all, however, it will be especially beneficial to those who may be on the autism spectrum, or suffer from anxiety of post-traumatic stress syndrome, sensory processing disorders, visually impaired individuals, and students with injuries.

This is a project for our whole school community to get behind. We have a limited number of generous donors who support our major projects, however, as you will see by the supporting infographic, we don’t have a lot of individual donors who directly support Loreto College.

We invite our entire alumni and current school community to be a greater part of Loreto by supporting the Loreto Sensory Garden Appeal this year. You can donate towards a single item in the garden, such as a groundcover, shrub or a tree, or simply donate your preferred amount. Donations can be made by returning the A5 flier or by heading to the College website: www.loreto.vic.edu.au

We will be hosting a whole school Sensory Garden Appeal Day on Monday June 7 where students will run sensory related activities and we will reach out to the community for support.

To find out more about the Sensory Garden, head to the Loreto website, past pupils.loreto.vic.edu.au/sensorygarden. Should you wish to receive more information about donating to the Sensory Garden, please contact the Fundraising Team directly at development@loreto.vic.edu.au.