3 minute read
SUPPORTING POSITIVE STEPS
After months of excitement, The Resilience Project launched at Southern Cross Grammar with sessions hosted by Martin Heppell, a Resilience Project Partner and Facilitator.
During the parent launch of The Resilience Project, parents were empowered with strategies to support their mental health and wellbeing
During the launch, Martin Heppell introduced staff, students and parents to the concept of GEM (Gratitude, Empathy/Kindness and Mindfulness) and its benefits in improving our wellbeing and resilience. He also empowered parents with strategies to manage their own wellbeing and mental health, and gave advice on how to model those healthy behaviours for their children.
Our secondary students experienced a powerful lesson in empathy and gratitude, during their session with Martin, as they moved around the room to thank someone who had been kind to them. "It was a powerful moment to witness," Lauren Smith, the Head of Wellbeing Curriculum, said. "The energy in the room lifted dramatically. You could feel the happiness in the room radiating out of [students] and the smiles on their faces as they thanked one another and realised the impact they had on another person's life."
The Resilience Project comes at a significant time for our school and strengthens our Foundation-Year 12 wellbeing curriculum, following the 2020 improvements to our wellbeing program including the expansion of our Health and PE offerings, appointing new Heads of Year Levels 7-12 for the first time in our school's history, and expanding our facilities.
"We now have a whole school approach to wellbeing, through the Wellbeing Curriculum and the new Student Care structures we have in place," Deborah Hollis, the Dean of Wellbeing and Pedagogy said.
"The Resilience Project will play an integral part in assisting all of us to develop our emotional literacy and care for ourselves, across all facets of our life. By encouraging the GEM approach, we hope our students can increase their ability to cope with life's challenges and provide them with the optimum environment to achieve their best."
The Program has been well researched by the University of Melbourne. In the University's 2017-2019 evaluation of The Resilience Project investigators, Professor Lisa Gibbs and Dr Karen Block, found that students who participated in the program significantly increased their daily practice of gratitude compared to students in nonprogram schools, thereby improving their confidence and self esteem, wellbeing and ability to express emotions, and relationships at home and at school.
At Southern Cross Grammar we pride ourselves in our ability to embrace contemporary ideas supported by the latest research to selecting the best methods to educate and care for our students.
We have also partnered with The Resilience Project's Centre of Resilience and the University of Melbourne to receive longitudinal data on our students' progress as they journey through the Program. Doing this provides the school and Wellbeing team with valuable evidence-based insights into our students' needs and ways we can adapt our program to respond to their needs.
"Before launching the Program, our [Years 3-12] students were surveyed by The Resilience Project Centre —a section of the University of Melbourne— and we will soon receive the data in to see what areas we need to focus on for their wellbeing. We will also be doing these surveys every year and over time, as we complete them, we will have [insights] into what is working and what we need to focus on," Lauren said.
We are excited for the new chapter of our whole-school wellbeing program, and we have no doubt the strategies we will practice in the weeks and months to come will have long-term benefits for our whole community.
