by Mrs Anoushka Houseman
GroupsTerm 2 has certainly started at a brisk pace! We have just concluded our current 8 session Anxiety Group and it was great to see some of these Year 7 students reflecting on some of the positive changes they are proud of having achieved during this time. The students were each presented with a certificate of completion and we're currently gathering and analysing data to assess changes in anxiety levels. Our social skills group continues to meet once a week at recess and we are always happy to add new members. The team is currently reviewing various student needs to see what kind of group we might run next.
Pulse Secondary Student Weekly Wellbeing Check-ins
As you know, we have continued using the Pulse digital program to assess individual and whole school wellbeing through the weekly check ins within our secondary school setting. This year, we have received 15 requests for help and all these students have been seen by the person they requested within the day. This program is allowing our wellbeing team to be more responsive to need. Our latest weekly data was showing 70% of students marked that they were feeling great or positive, 24.4% indicated that they felt somewhere in the middle and 5.6% reported feeling negative or requested help.
Attendance
Student attendance every day at school for some students is an area that can be a complex and at times stressful endeavour whereas for other students it is not something they even think about. Our Diocese, in line with a great deal of Australian research, has come to understand the highly significant impact that student attendance has on educational achievement as well as social and emotional wellbeing. Therefore we are required to monitor student attendance and try to provide any support we can to engage students to attend as much as possible. The Diocese has set each school a target for each student to have an attendance level of at least 90% (which means they are missing no more than 1 day a fortnight). Unfortunately we have slipped a little below this target as a school where only 88.4% of students in high school and 88.6% of our students in primary school are achieving an attendance level of 90% or more. We are very keen to work with you as parents and with our students to try to get this attendance level back over the 90% goal. If you have concerns about your child's attendance and we are not already engaged in supporting you, please email me, Anoushka Houseman, on ahouseman@parra.catholic.edu.au
