Power Lunch Power Lunch is an initiative trialed in Term 4 of 2017 to provide our girls with the opportunity to interact with professionals from a wide array of careers and backgrounds. Professionals from beyond the School community volunteer their time to have lunch with our girls, share a brief presentation about their work, and then answer any questions our girls might have about their chosen profession. The aim of the programme is to have students learn about the daily functions of someone in a professional role and understand the intricacies in their respective fields. As a result, our girls can develop a deeper understanding of what civic life after secondary school and university may look and feel like. Additionally, our speakers share their passions and personal journeys/pathways that took them to where they are today. This programme runs during lunchtime on alternating days of the week to provide more girls with the opportunity to attend the sessions. To date we have welcomed practising Neurosurgeons, Astrophysicists, Mechanical and Telecommunications Engineers, and Heads of Genomics to Ruyton. We look forward to welcoming a broader range of professionals to join us this year. Mr Jake Plaskett, Director of Learning Innovation
At the start of Term 4 Power Lunch began. I had heard about it through emails from my class science teacher, Miss Greer and also from Mr Plaskett. These emails often began with the question, ‘What does a scientist do every day?’ This was a question I wanted to be able to answer. Eager to learn I came to the first session of Power Lunch and left entranced. I enjoyed listening to the scientist speak so passionately about her field, some of which I had never heard of before! The thing I loved most about Power Lunch is that it isn’t like a typical incursion. In a normal incursion the presenter will speak and will allow a limited question time at the end before we have to leave for the next class. In Power Lunch you are encouraged to ask as many questions as possible throughout the session, because it is fine not to know everything; even the presenters don’t know everything because we are all learning. This, I believe, is the purpose of Power Lunch: to learn something new about a particular career pathway. I am proud to say that I have learnt countless facts over five new areas of science and I finally know the answer to ‘What does a scientist do every day?’ The answer is anything and everything. I have learnt so much from Power Lunch this term and look forward to Power Lunch in 2018. Ella Callow-Sussex, Year 7 (2017)
The Student Wellbeing Portal The Ruyton Student Council’s (RSC’s) main project last year was to come up with solutions to improve mental health in our School community. Early in the year, as a council, we focused on mental health initiatives, as social media and other societal pressures often erode girls’ mental health and wellbeing. As a team we decided to create a mental health and wellbeing portal on the student website which contains a diverse range of resources that can be accessed anywhere, anytime and, most importantly, in private. The aim of the portal is to provide information in a succinct manner to enable a student’s understanding of sometimes complex issues. Firstly, we discovered the major stresses in each of our lives, which varied across year levels, and then we came up with potential solutions to help us gain information on what is still a relatively taboo subject. A Mental Health and Wellbeing Student Portal on the Intranet was developed, with the help of Mr Upperton, Mr Moller and Ms Conabere, to provide options for girls experiencing issues in their lives and to prevent overwhelming situations going unchecked. All girls are able to use this resource, as it has been designed by students for students and follows a user-friendly format. The portal is accessed via Firefly under the Wellbeing page. This opens the front page of the portal. If there is uncertainty in describing what it is that is causing panic, the Next Step app is the place to start, as it provides a series of topics to check what is the root of the problem. The cover page is divided into ‘looking for help for myself’ and ‘looking for help for a friend.’ Within each of these folders there are links to different websites with information and support networks, for example ReachOut and beyondblue. We also added a section with different Mindfulness apps in order to help improve mental health. Our aim is to provide de-stressing activities that can be accessed at all times. The RSC hopes that the Mental Health and Wellbeing Student Portal is useful and that it grows and develops over time, supporting the mental health of our School community and placing resources at the fingertips of all our students. Tash Borash, RSC Captain (2017)
autumn 2018
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