Senior School students participated in a range of activities and were treated to wonderful guest speakers during the Wellness Days as part of Transition Week. Wellness Days @ HCC are devoted to boosting the physical and mental wellbeing of students and cover a range of topics including positive mental health, relaxation, healthy eating and nutrition, exercise, drug and alcohol education. We look forward to more opportunities like these to build individual student resilience and strengthen relationships within the senior school. Here's some stories and pics from the days ...
Yr 9 Wellness Day: Guest dance instructor Rita led a Cultural Dance workshop, Mrs Lewis & Mrs Rossetti helped students make healthy parfaits & smoothies and Ms Reynolds taught a relaxing Yoga class. Youth Focus presented a suicide prevention workshop called “Having a Conversation about Mental Health”. It was an interactive, enjoyable and fulfilling day for students. Courtney Tassell, Grace Ryan and Sophie Medcraft won the competition to create original recipes for parfaits and smoothies – their creations will be featured on the school menu so head down to the College Café to try them out!
Most of the Yr 10 Wellness Day was spent with Adam from “Armed for Life” who addressed many aspects of physical and mental health. He was accompanied by local hip-hop artist Marskman Lloyd who dazzled the crowd with his awesome impromptu rapping (somehow he found a way to rap about snotty tissues, headphones and basketballs!) and then shared an enthralling story about his struggles with drugs and alcohol. Both Adam and Marksman Lloyd emphasised the importance of resilience, having strong supports, being true to yourself, working hard and having courage in life – messages well received by our students.
The theme for the Yr 11 Wellness Day was strengthening connections and relationships and thus the students worked together to create a shared lunch with Mrs Murphy, tapped into their creative side with a group art project with Ms O’Neil, and had lots of laughs during the social dance lessons with Ms Pratt. Ms Betti & Ms Hay screened an emotive video clip from Dr. Gabor Mate, and demonstrated how important human connections, support and healthy relationships are in combatting addiction. Students brainstormed some ways to create a “Rat Park” in their own lives. After lunch students were fortunate enough to have 4 HCC Alumni students share their memories, stories, wisdom and great tips for getting through Yr. 12. These students were a great reminder that anything is possible with a bit of hard work, of the many pathways available to students, the importance of sleep and balancing work-study-life, and that you are certainly not defined by your ATAR results!
Jo Betti
College Social Worker
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