Supporting Student Health

The Secondary School has had another busy week this week.  Students have been busy with excursions and activities, including hosting a round of the NCIS debating, a Business Studies excursion, a visit from a speaker from Ballina Shire Council as well as the Australian Maths Competition.  Phew!

Most critically, Year 12 Trials commenced this week and it was great to see our year 12 students putting all their hard work to use in these examinations.  We wish them all the very best of luck.

At this point in the year, we encourage all students to look after their health, both in terms of COVID and otherwise.  This means supporting our students in managing their stress levels throughout high pressure examinations.  The College Wellbeing Program is designed to help students develop social and emotional skills which allow them to manage their emotions as well as workload.  In essence, we have trained for this!

One area of growing concern out in the community is the rise of vaping amongst young people.  The College takes a firm anti-vaping view with no vaping allowed on College grounds or in College uniform under any circumstances.   ABC's Four Corners recently featured a documentary about vaping which raised awareness of the public health issues surrounding the increasing use of vapes by teenagers.  You can view the Four Corners episode HERE.  Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia have produced a document summarising some important information for parents.  You can access that document and more useful resources including how to talk about vaping with your child HERE.

We will continue to work with our students to ensure they make good choices about their personal health as well as the health of those around them by avoiding vapes.