SCHOOL LIFE
VI – our new boarding wellbeing program
It ’ s an exciting year for our boarders . Not only did they move into their new state-of-the-art co-educational Boarding House , the School also introduced our new wellbeing initiative – the VI Program – The Journey of You . The comprehensive program will ensure we provide tailored and effective pastoral care and wellbeing support for all our boarders throughout their time in boarding .
VI in Latin has two meanings . In Roman numerals it means six and represents the important steps our boarders take along their journey from children in Year 7 , to young adults in Year 12 . VI is also translated as ‘ you ’ and represents the crucial role we all play in managing our own lives with our personal wellbeing sitting at the centre of this . The VI Program helps to prepare our boarders with the social and emotional skills they need to succeed in a complex and challenging world .
The VI Program aims to achieve the following :
• Provides a highly structured and progressive development map that enables our boarders to think , act and reflect on who they want to become as people once they leave the School .
• Engages students in activities that promote talking , listening , and understanding their own and other people ’ s ideas and emotions .
• Creates a weekly ‘ digital-free ’ environment where communication is achieved through person-to-person interaction to benefit our boarding community .
• Promotes self-confidence by presenting a series of age-specific challenges with scaffolded support to help our students overcome these obstacles .
• Encourages boarders to ‘ own ’ their personal journey and to step outside their comfort zone so they can learn about themselves in preparation for life after school .
• As part of the VI Program , every boarder will engage with a different wellbeingcentered theme each year . These themes will be explored , practiced and reflected upon every week and include : – Year 7 : Looking In – Year 8 : Looking Out – Year 9 : Venturing Out – Year 10 : Helping Out – Year 11 : Stepping Out – Year 12 : Looking Back
As part of the program , students will continually join in discussions designed to open and explore the theories that underpin the wellbeing concepts they explore each year . They will take part in activities that help students practice wellbeing and enable them to employ the strategies they have learned in their discussion sessions . This will be supported by reflections , giving students the opportunity to reflect on what they have learned and how they have applied it to their lives recently .
Each term ’ s workshops , activities and reflections are designed to be fun , practical and creative . We look forward to seeing what our boarders get up to each term to support their health and wellbeing as they begin the journey of you .
The theme for Term 2 was ‘ Healthy Body Healthy Mind ’. We engaged clinical nutritionist , Nancy Kremer from The Wellness Place to run workshops alongside our Wellbeing Coordinator , Hannah Kappelle to discuss the importance of a healthy diet in fuelling our bodies to improve wellbeing .
As part of an activity , our students learnt basic cutting and food preparation skills , and created a healthy supper for the entire Boarding House . They also learnt to produce by themselves an amazing pasta carbonara dish , Mr Weston ’ s secret recipe !
At the end of the term we lit up the fire pit and prepared some simple treats for all to enjoy .
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