Rebecca Durran
CONNECT Coordinator Junior Sub School Leader
Research highlights the importance of wellbeing programs in schools, with 1 in 3 secondary school students experiencing high levels of anxiety and depression, and only 16% of students arriving at school each day ‘ready to learn’. These statistics remind us how crucial it is to provide students with the skills, strategies, and support they need to manage challenges and thrive both academically and personally.
Through our Connect program, students have been engaging with a range of topics designed to build resilience, encourage positive coping strategies, and strengthen their overall wellbeing.
The recent focus areas have included:
- Year 7 – Emotional Literacy and Positive Coping
Students explored ways to recognise and understand their emotions, as well as strategies to manage them in healthy ways to build stronger relationships and improve learning.
- Year 8 – Positive Coping
Focused on practical strategies to deal with everyday challenges, manage stress, and develop resilience when things don’t go as planned.
- Year 9 – Resilience and Positive Coping
Explored bouncing back from setbacks, problem-solving skills, and using positive coping strategies to handle peer and academic pressures.
- Year 10 – Positive Coping and Problem Solving
Built on coping strategies by applying them to real-life scenarios, encouraging students to approach challenges with confidence and a solutions-focused mindset.
- Year 11 – Stress Management and Mental Health
Students learned techniques to manage stress in the senior years, developed an understanding of mental health, and explored ways to support both themselves and their peers.
- Year 12 – Help Seeking and SEAS Applications
Focused on the importance of reaching out for support, both personally and academically, alongside practical guidance on SEAS applications delivered with the support of Deakin University representatives and our College careers team.
We encourage families to continue these conversations at home, as discussing strategies and insights from the Connect program helps students embed their learning, build confidence, and feel supported in their wellbeing journey.
