Deputy Principal – Student Wellbeing & Leadership

Given our commitment to a holistic approach to academic care and continued best practice, the Wellbeing Team has established key focus areas in keeping with the School’s Towards 2025 Strategy and the newly developed Learning Framework. The planning process confirmed the impressive commitment the School community has to the personal, social, emotional, and physical wellbeing of our students and the intrinsic link between a strong sense of wellbeing and academic engagement and purpose. Our weThrive:Wellbeing St Catherine’s Program, which spans from the Early Learning Centre to Year 12, is based on the social, emotional, and cognitive continuum and is a key component of the School’s Academic Care Model. The Program seeks to foster the key dispositions of a St Catherine’s graduate, to be Bold, Independent, Resilient and Creative. The Years 7 & 8 Program is framed around developing Independence, the Years 9 & 10 Program focuses on Resilience and Years 11 & 12 students consider the attributes of courage and striving under the banner of being Bold. Our key dispositions align well with the prioritisation of student voice as part of our Strategic Intent to empower our students to be confident and courageous contributors at School and beyond. Our V.O.I.C.E.S Program has gone from strength to strength this year, from the buzz of ideas in the Student Representative Council as they designed a Student Commitment to Online Safety, to the expert leadership of the Student Executive in a range of initiatives, including student led assemblies and the professionalism of the aptly named student monthly magazine, The Stentorian. The title means ‘loud’ and ‘powerful,’ and the success of this student led initiative is the stamp of bold, creative, independent, and resilient students. Student voice has been central to other aspects of our School Strategy this year, with the introduction of the new Child Safe Standards. Along with staff and parents, the students formed an important part of the consultation process undertaken regarding the Child Safety Policy creation and review. In addition to contributing via the Student Representative Council, the student survey and in Year Level sessions, a group of Year 12 students comprised the Child Safety Focus Group. These groups have been instrumental in ensuring accessibility and relevance of new policies, including the creation of child friendly versions. The inclusion of students in such discussions emphasises their empowerment regarding their rights, as well as their responsibilities.

Deputy Principal – Student Wellbeing and Leadership