Vice Principal's Report

Child Safety

Padua College is actively committed to fostering communities of safeguarding that recognise and uphold the dignity and rights of all children. We encourage open communication whereby families and communities are informed of relevant issues and participate in decisions about the safety of children. It is particularly important to us to look for avenues to empower children to have a say and be listened to.

We actively seek to become and remain informed of the courses and signs of child abuse and neglect. When we receive information about concerns or witness any matter relating to abuse of a child, we respond appropriately and report any such concerns to the appropriate authority. This includes contacting police immediately where there may be immediate risk of harm to any person, especially a child.

Every person within Padua College who works with or comes into contact with children seeks to uphold the dignity of all children and commits to establishing safe and supportive relationships. Padua College has documented policies and procedures to prevent risks to children and build a strong culture of safeguarding and these are all available on the College website. Recently the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria updated the ‘Procedures for Responding to and Reporting Allegations of Child Abuse’. This information is also now updated on our College website.

eXcel

The Wellbeing and Pastoral Care of our students is of utmost importance to all of us here at Padua College. We recognise that when students have a healthy concept of self, can identify and regulate their emotions/thoughts and have a positive ability to form resilience that their learning outcomes increase.

A key feature, but certainly not the only, in which we look at building our student connectedness and resilience is through the eXcel program. For students, these are the lessons held in homerooms each Tuesday morning with their homeroom teacher.

The term eXcel comes from the Melbourne Catholic Education Wellbeing Framework which is presented as four intersecting dimensions of Enable, Connect, Engage and Learn, the first letter of each has been combined to form the overarching concept of ‘eXcel’.

eXcel embraces the belief that students have the capacity to achieve their full potential when their wellbeing is nurtured in faith-filled learning environments that are safe, inclusive and respectful. Through this program each week we hope to provide rich, deep and varied learning experiences and opportunities that identify key factors contributing to a student’s sense of safety, connectedness and resilience. Activities will be posted each week on the Learning Area pages in SIMON for this subject and students will work through these tasks, sometimes by themselves and at other times in groups. They will learn how to identify things like character strengths, positive habits and social and emotional factors that contribute to creating this positive outlook on their time here at Padua.

I hope that students enjoy working with their homeroom teacher this year in our eXcel lessons. As parents, you can find these topics useful in building the character of your children in a shared journey with the school.

Ultimately a positive sense of wellbeing can foster higher levels of engagement, school connectedness, emotional and psychological functioning and academic performance. It is a key factor in enabling you to contribute to society and enjoy meaningful lives while here at Padua College and beyond.

Please feel free to peruse this short video explaining eXcel to the students:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpaA-Q0AfqE

School TV

At Padua College we have subscribed to SchoolTV, an online resource designed to empower parents by providing credible and sound information with realistic, practical ongoing support strategies. A range of topics is published monthly with comprehensive videos from leading specialists and organisations, with fact sheets, suggested books, apps, websites and much more. And because SchoolTV is independent, it has some great content from organisations such as Beyond Blue, ReachOut, HeadSpace and others.

The information can be accessed by visiting the College website:
PADUA COMMUNITY > Padua Parents > SchoolTV or via the below link:
Link - School TV

This week’s special report is on Surviving the Final Year.

SPECIAL REPORT: Surviving the Final Year

Although the final year of school can be a stressful time for students and parents, there are a number of strategies that can be applied to help reduce anxiety and allow students to perform at their best. It is important to prepare their brains for success. Studies have shown that there is a clear connection between students taking care of their health and their productivity during the final year of school.

Not all stress is bad, the art is in finding the right balance. Having the right amount of stress can encourage students to be at their optimal level of alertness, behavioural and cognitive performance. It helps tune their brain and focus. It is therefore important to understand how best to support your child’s wellbeing during this time. This will help them achieve to the best of their ability. The emphasis should remain on their good mental health, wellbeing and the effort they are putting in. The student brain has a lot going on, so understanding how it works will help them get the most out their brain power.

Here is the link to the Special Report on Surviving the Final Year 

Sam Wright
Vice Principal – Students