Newsletter - Term 2, Week 10 2024

Principal's Update

It is already halfway through the year and the weather has changed now we are deep into winter. The air is chilly and hopefully we will see some nice big cold fronts swing through over the next two weeks and dump plenty of snow in Falls Creek ready for the Year 10/11 snow trip to be held in the first week of term 3. 

Big congratulations are extended to Kristy Power and her husband Wayne. Kristy gave birth to their second child late in June. Harry Power is a little brother to Pippa. Kristy and Harry are both well and we wish the Power family all the best for the rest of 2024 as they get to know their beautiful new son. 

Changes to the Year 10/11 School Uniform Polo Shirt 

At our June meeting the Governing Council approved an update to the school uniform which will impact families with year 10 and 11 students from the start of 2025. We agreed to bring in a new polo shirt with white panels and a white collar as part of the transition from middle school to senior school (see images of the new shirt below). 

We understand families are facing increased cost of living pressures, which is why the Governing Council has approved providing each family with a current year 9 student with one free polo shirt in the new colours. As a once-off, year 9 students will be sized into one of the new shirts next term with the aim of having the new polo shirt ready to be gifted to the student as part of their Year 9 Graduation ceremony to be held on Monday 9 December. 

We acknowledge families of current year 10 students may not wish to purchase a new polo shirt, as it will potentially only need to be worn for 1 year, as year 12 students purchase a separate commemorative year 12 polo shirt for their final year at high school. For this reason, current year 10 students can opt to either buy the new white polo shirt or continue to wear their yellow polo shirt for another 12 months. 

Please note – there is no change to the polo shirt for middle school (year 7, 8 and 9) students. They will continue to the wear the polo shirt with the yellow panels and collar. 

Restorative Practices 

During the first half of the year staff have completed two days of restorative practices training and all students in years 7, 8 and 9 have participated in a 45-minute restorative practices workshop. 

Restorative practice is a whole school teaching and learning approach that encourages supportive and respectful behaviour. It puts the onus on individuals to be truly accountable for their behaviour and to repair any harm caused to others as a result of their actions. A restorative approach focuses on building, maintaining, and restoring positive relationships, particularly when incidents that involve interpersonal conflict or wrongdoing occur. 

Restorative practices are implemented using a continuum of levels ranging from informal to very formal processes. This term staff have been practicing using one of the informal strategies called affective statements. This is where you use an “I” statement to alert the student to the impact their behaviour is having on you. For example, you might say “I am really worried about how much learning time you are losing when ….” An affective statement describes the behaviour and its impact on you and is used in place of a negative statement such as “stop wasting your time …. get back to work”. 

Adam Voigt, from Real Schools, says it best when he writes: 

“Affective Statements work quite well in the short-term because the use of these words activates higher proportions of the human brain when heard, including the neo-cortex (where our vocab is stored) and our limbic system (our emotional centre). 

In other words, students hear our words more loudly when they’re Affective. 

But it’s the long-term game that’s best served by Affective Language. Each Affective Statement is a deposit of valuable information in the brain of any young person who hears it. It helps them learn how to navigate other people. 

With enough information feeding their emotional intelligence, young people require less of your rules, reminders, and consequences. They learn to self-regulate.” 

I encourage you to try using affective statements on your teenagers at home. It might feel a bit weird at first but persevere and see what impact it has. I know we all hate being that ‘nagging’ parent. Affective statements give us a better way of delivering those ‘nagging’ messages. Good luck! 

Semester One Reports 

Semester one reports have been published in Daymap. Please go to the Daymap parent portal to download a copy of your child’s report. If you have any questions about any of your child’s grades, please contact the relevant subject teacher by email and the teacher will follow up with you early next term. If your child has received a number of concerning grades you can expect a contact from a member of the year level sub school team early next term, most likely seeking a time to meet and discuss the learning concerns. 

Parent Concerns School Contact 

There are times when things go wrong, and you will want to raise a concern with the school. It is best if concerns can be raised and followed up in a timely manner at the school level, but often you may not be sure who to raise the concern with. We have created a dedicated email address (dl.1834.parentconcerns@schools.sa.edu.au) to support families to let us know what your concerns are. The email will be actively monitored by Belinda Noack (Wellbeing Leader). She will triage your concern and connect you with the person in the school who can respond most appropriately. You can expect to be contacted by the person who will be responding to your concern within 2 working days. 

Peter Kuss 

Principal 

Kiss and Drop Zone

Our Kiss and Drop zone adjacent to the Park and Ride carpark is a popular and convenient way to pick up your child after school. We ask that due to the limited car spaces and proximity to the main road, if your child is not waiting at the pick-up point to please continue driving and come back around. Having a line of cars waiting up to the intersection can cause a safety issue for students crossing the road and oncoming traffic.

You can either drive down and park temporarily behind the basketball courts while you wait, or if you turn right at the roundabout, you can enter the Park and Ride carpark, and circle around to the Kiss and Drop zone again.

Meet GGHS Family

Lynette Haines - Lead Teacher, Dance Department

Education (school)-  Para Vista Primary School & Northfield High School 

Education (tertiary) – University of South Australia: Bachelor of Applied Science (Human Movement), Bachelor of Health Science (Honours), Bachelor of Education 

Interest/Hobbies – Dancing (obviously), going to see live theatre, travelling & holidaying (and yes they are different), anything to do with animals, walking at the beach, reading, spending time with friends & family. 

Favourite Drink –  Hot chocolate (made with warm milk & real Swiss chocolate melted into it) 

Favourite Book  - I love the Twilight series and the Harry Potter series, but I also love a good crime book. 

Favourite Movies – Love Actually, Dirty Dancing, Bridesmaids. 

Overseas Travel –  I lived in the UK for 2 years while dancing and travelling. I have been to 32 countries in my adult life while working, travelling or studying. Still on the bucket list is South America and India. 

If I could go to dinner with anyone – Honestly, it would be my mum. 

Proudest Accomplishment –   Volunteering in the disability sector for 20 years and being a presenter at 5 World Congress for Downs Syndrome with the amazing performance troupe I work with. 

Middle School Snapshot

As we begin a new semester, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all our students and parents/carers for their commitment to and engagement in our Semester 1 Middle School programs and activities, all designed for students to thrive and show growth in their learning, wellbeing, friendships, and learner dispositions. We would like to emphasise the importance of going on to DayMap together as a family and reflecting on students’ Semester 1 reports as these are valuable tools for growth and progress. While it’s tempting to simply glance at the grades and move on, taking the time to reflect upon the growth of the learner dispositions (collaborative, creative, reflective, resilient and self-motivated) can led to meaningful conversations and yield incredible benefits for our young people. It is also an opportunity to look at your child’s attendance data on DayMap. Our average attendance rate in the Middle School is approximately 80% which, although consistent with other schools in the state, is very concerning. This essentially means that, on average, our Middle School students are missing one day a week of schooling, which adds up two whole weeks of school over the 10-week term. The benefits of having these conversations, especially for Middle School students, include encouraging self-awareness; identifying growth opportunities; promoting responsibility and accountability; strengthening parent-teacher partnerships; and building resilience.  

To maintain that strong Middle School model of building strong student-teacher relationships and connections, many of our Year 7 and Year 8 students will be continuing into the next semester with many of their same teachers. As we start to prepare our Year 9s for their move into the Senior School in 6 months' time, many of our Year 9s may have a new core group of teachers and classes due to changes in electives. We encourage you all to again utilise DayMap to access the Semester Outlines for each class and stay up to date with class and teacher changes.   

Year 7 

Showcase of Learning 

During semester 1, half of our Year 7s engaged in our exciting new subject called Visible Learning, with a focus on one of four areas of interest: Engineering Innovation, Inspired Minds, My Artistic Self or The Great Outdoors. This subject is designed to teach students the key skills that will assist them in their learning across all their subjects at GGHS. Throughout the course, the focus has been on our learner dispositions, encouraging and fostering the students’ sense of collaboration, resilience, creativity, self-motivation and reflection in their learning, both in and out of the classroom. 

On Wednesday 19th June, we invited families and carers into our school to attend our inaugural Year 7 Showcase of Learning, where students were given the opportunity to show off their Visible Learning journeys. Students showcased their projects, presented what they learnt, how they learnt it and why it is important. Our Principal, Peter Kuss, commented: “I was blown away with the quality of the products produced, the depth to which the students could talk about their learning process, how they overcame any challenges and the things they were particularly proud of.”  

It was fantastic to have so many parents and grandparents in our Middle School building, sharing the pride that we felt towards our Year 7s and enjoying a yummy morning tea at the same time. We can’t wait to see what this semester’s Visible Learning students can produce! 

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Year 8 

 Doran Dollar PBL Encouragement System

During term 2 our teachers trialled an encouragement system within their classes to support the implementation of PBL classroom practices. The Year 8 team met during the term 1 holidays to brainstorm how we could take this trial to the next level and create a year level system that was easy to implement into any class, encouraged our students to develop their social and emotional skills by focusing on our PBL monthly focus and most importantly, have some fun!

Named after our esteemed Year 8 leader, Andy Doran, students returned to school to learn a new currency 'Doran Dollars' was now in circulation! 

Students earned Doran Dollars in one of three ways:

$1 - for consistently demonstrating a classroom expectation

$2 - for going above and beyond in their learning or for others

$5 - for demonstrating the current PBL monthly focus

Students collect their dollars throughout the week to 'cash in' on Fridays at recess to potentially be the winner of the week. Each entry of $5 or more automatically earns a Freddo Frog, and the student to cash in the most Doran Dollars for the week enjoys a lunch on us from anywhere at the Golden Grove Village Shopping Centre. Boy did the students get involved, with hundreds of dollars cashed in every week, what a wonderful demonstration of the skills and dispositions of so many of our students!

Mr Doran got right into the spirit, dressing up in the colour theme of the dollar each week to purchase the lunches. Popular choices were Subway, McDonalds and Zambreros. In week 9 we had our first double winner for the term, Amelia, what an amazing effort!

Our team meets again this week to see what Doran Dollars will look like next term, so stay tuned!

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Year 9 

Community Connection Project 

During term 2, twelve of our Year 9 students participated in a community connections program, dedicating one lesson per week to visit a local childcare centre. Their activities included reading with children, colouring and engaging in imaginative games pretending to be many different Frozen characters.  

Students have reflected positively on their experience, with one saying, "This program gave me so much happiness and improved my confidence." Another shared, "I learned how to communicate with kids and built up my confidence, attendance, and resilience." 

The program not only benefited our students but also fostered meaningful interactions with the children from the childcare, "This program has opened so many opportunities for the kids and us, they are so happy to see us and that makes me happy". 

This program highlights the impact of GGHS community engagement and its role in enhancing successful student outcomes and strengthening our community connections. Stay tuned for more updates on our outreach efforts! 

Senior School Snapshot

Year 12 Retreat Day and Formal

It was a very busy term for the Class of 2024 with both their Retreat Day and Formal.   

Retreat Day began at the Rotunda in Elder Park with students organising themselves into teams, completing their first challenge and getting their next clue for the AMAZING RACE to start. Photo evidence had to be uploaded as the race progressed and brought the teachers much joy, seeing the antics and creativity the students came up with to win. 

The race ended in a park with a supplied lunch, picnic activities and line dance practice. This day was fun-filled and a great opportunity for both staff and students to further develop the bond and friendships already shared. 

The main event for the Class of 2024 occurred on Friday the 28th of June. The venue was the Convention Centre, and it did not disappoint with the meal consisting of an alternate drop consisting of; 

• Chargrilled Barossa Valley chicken breast, native thyme Kipfler potatoes, garlic green beans, heirloom carrot puree, shallot marmalade, crispy prosciutto shard, madeira glaze .
• Chargrilled beef fillet & braised brisket, fondant potato, cauliflower puree, green beans, roasted heirloom tomatoes, Port jus followed by dessert 
• Deconstructed lemon tart: burnt meringue, lemon curd, vanilla crumb, raspberry gel, white peach & quandong sorbet, meringue shards 

Students filled the dance floor, sang loudly, danced boldly, and were so polite and friendly that the lead photographer commented on how wonderful they were as a group.  

One of the highlights was when they took to the dancefloor to do the Nutbush followed by the line dance to the song Shiver. Students had been learning both dances at random times during the year and had a final tutorial with our dance expert Lynette Haines to cement their moves. 

Not only did they look spectacular, but they behaved spectacularly. 

Class of 2024 you certainly did us proud. 

Year 10

Program ID 

Program ID is an important part of the Year 10 curriculum and takes place on a Monday during lesson 3. Program ID is the platform where a lot of information goes out to students and so attendance to these lessons is just as important as any other lesson. As we fast approach subject selections for 2025, please support your child in attending Program ID and engaging in the various activities and information provided. The Term 3 program will support a range of things such as VET applications, pathway planning and information about specific subjects at Stage 1. It will involve some familiarization with the subject handbook, which is a vital tool in ensuring that students place themselves into subjects that they will enjoy and are meaningful to them as they continue their SACE journey.  

Weekly Grove Challenge Competition   

In Term 2 our students had some fun in Grove time by participating in a range of challenges that earned points towards our weekly challenge ladder. Each week we did a different challenge, listed in the table below.  

As we moved into week 10 the competition was hotting up and it will all come down to the Oreo Challenge that we will announce in the next edition!

Despite being an underperformer throughout this competition, 1005 smashed the week 9 challenge and took out first place with a remarkable 1.03 minutes to move the Tic Tacs from one bowl to another, with only a pair of chopsticks. 1008 were a close second with 1.33, and 1009 came in third with a time of 1.44.  

As far as the ladder goes, things were hotting up at the top with 1001 and 1003 head-to-head. 1003 were strong last time and have continued this trend into this term. 1001 resembles the Leicester City team from the 2015-16 season and have climbed their way to the top of the ladder from a poor finish last time. 1009 is up there again and ready to pounce if the top two flounder.  

The points total then drops away somewhat, however do not discount 1008 and even a late push from 1005, if Mr. Sharpe is able to motivate his students to go back-to-back in the challenge. 1002 and 1007 remain mid-table with 1010 just below them. Sad to see the mighty 1006, last term winners, scraping around the bottom and looking for whatever crumbs they can find. The only pizza they will get this term, is quite literally the crumbs of a what I predict to be a 1001 or 1003 victory. 

Positive Behaviour records

Students can receive Positive Behaviour records from any staff member at the school and it has been great to read these and see some of the ‘good stuff’ that happens at our school. This term students in Year 10 received 201 PBR’s, the third highest amount in the school.  

I would like to share some student names who have received 4 PBR’s this term and look forward to seeing many more - Emily, Isabella, Jameson, Joel, Mikayla and Nate

Year 10 Work Experience

During week 8, over 200 Year 10 students immersed themselves in a week of work experience. This provided invaluable opportunities for students to gain practical insights into various career paths. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback highlighting students' professionalism and eagerness to learn. We thank the local businesses and organisations who worked with our students for their invaluable collaboration and support in providing these opportunities. We also thank the Year 10 students for their exemplary behaviour during work experience. Your enthusiasm and respectful conduct have left a positive impression on the community.  While organising such an event takes careful planning, the effort is undeniably worthwhile as it helps prepare students for the workforce and in some cases forms connections with future employment opportunities. We appreciate everyone involved in making this experience possible. 

“It was a pleasure hosting Cooper. He was very engaged and interested. He asked a lot of questions and showed a lot of interest, especially in the simulators. Wishing Cooper all the best for his studies and hope to see him at FTA in the future.”

“Ella has been a pleasure to work with, always ready to help and engaged throughout routine activities. Ella will always choose to go to lunch when the kids were all asleep to get the most out of her placement. Thank you for being such an involved and eager student, the kids have really enjoyed having you with us.”

“I have absolutely loved having Layla in my room. She uses initiative by seeing what needs to be done & does it. She developed ideas and a task to expand students learning. At all times she spoke and acted professionally and developed some lovely relationships with the students. They will miss her and so will I.”

Riddle me this...

Would you like to win a $30 canteen voucher for your child to enjoy in term 3?

Well, just solve the riddle and be the first person to email the correct answer to sarah.west595@schools.sa.edu.au 

I am a three-digit number where:

• The hundreds digit is 1 more than the tens digit.
• The tens digit is 2 less than the ones digit.
• The sum of all digits is 15.

What number am I?

Faculty Focus

Year 8 Japanese - Excursion to Sushi Planet

🍣🍱 We love this feedback from Year 8 students on our afternoon excursions to Modbury Sushi Planet which included a sushi making workshop: 

 "I can't give any constructive feedback for something that already beats my standards" - Reid 

"I kept their Ramune bottle for memories of the excursion" - Harley 

"It was funny how there was so much food and no one could finish their meals and had to get take away containers" - Micah 

All four of our Year 8 Japanese classes enjoyed this half-day excursion followed by making Pocky back at school. This came after we spent a whole term focusing on Japanese food culture including designing a Japanese menu, creating a restaurant role-play and learning how to use chopsticks and correct etiquette. 

Moat Sensei, Hahm Sensei, Carrington Sensei 

Japanese Teachers

Year 9 History gets industrial!

With the start of the new semester in week 9, I was excited to welcome a new History class to explore the makings of the industrial world, First Nations histories and the events of WWI. To start our semester, students have been learning about the major changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution that still impact their world today. It has been an active classroom, learning about their individual horsepower, urbanisation, innovation and the trials and challenges of mass production!

In one of our activities, students were placed into 3 groups and tasked to create at least 50 candlesticks out of playdoh in 50 minutes in the hopes of securing a buyer's contract. They were given little instruction on how to produce their product, other than it had to have a base, stem, handle and plate, be able to hold a candle (glue stick) and each stick had to be identical. It was great to see the groups developing their learner dispositions of creativity and collaboration when designing a prototype, figuring out how to be efficient in their production and also recognising the need to hire quality control officers!

This preliminary learning has provided foundational knowledge of how this time period has continued to influence the world in a range of contexts and cultures.

Sarah West

HaSS Teacher

Outdoor Education

2024 has seen a very busy Outdoor Education Program across the school with 10 classes across years 7, 10, 11 and 12 in Semester 1. There were camps almost every week of term 2, with only a couple affected by poor weather. The staff and students did a great job in looking after equipment to keep each camp going from week to week and the students certainly reported they had some great times.  

Year 10  

Year 10 Outdoor Education was run for the first time this year, there was great demand, and the students now appear to be well set up for going further with this in year 11 and 12. They attended a 1 night aquatics camp at port Noarlunga and a 3 day Bushwalking camp at Kuitpo forest with no running water or flushing toilets. It certainly tested a few of them but they all did amazingly well. My group walked 17 km from Chookarloo to Rocky Creek camp site after a few extra kms were added on around a track closure due to logging. The students stated in their reflections that although the walk was a bit tough at the time they loved spending the time chatting with their mates in some beautiful scenery.  

Year 11 

The introduction of the year 10 course meant it was time to boost our year 11 program so the students this year attended a 3-day Surf camp at Corny Point, a gorgeous little spot down on the Yorke Peninsula. Students were great, some of them getting up and surfing some green waves by the last day.  The highlight was probably the pod of dolphins that spent the day surfing with us. They followed this up with a 3-day bushwalking camp at Mt Crawford. It was cold but for the first time in 5 camps at Mt Crawford, we finally made it through one that wasn’t affected by rain. Unfortunately the next week the other group had to cut it a day short. Students loved the time with their friends around the fire and the views overlooking the hills from atop the fire tower.  

Year 12 

The Year 12s have undertaken a few excursions and camps so far, a few of the highlights being our 3-day Kayak from Berri to Loxton and, for the first time, a 3-day bushwalk in the Bendleby Ranges. Upon finishing the walk the property owner spoke to us about how impressed he was with our group and commended the group for being resilient given there was some rain about on each night and the kms we covered over the three days. The year 12s will look forward to their self-directed camps next term.

Chris Wojtkowiak 

Outdoor Education Teacher

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Professional Development

Positive Behaviour for Learning

Our PBL journey has well and truly hit the ground running at GGHS! As staff we came together in week 8 to reflect on our encouragement system trials and how this has helped support behaviour and learning in classrooms. What a creative variety of ideas our teachers came up with, from dollar systems, scratchy tickets, paperclips and MVP points. Having an encouragement system in our classrooms supports students with knowing what the expectations are, having opportunities to practice their skills and dispositions and receive positive acknowledgement for their efforts. Research supports that when positive feedback is given at a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio compared with corrective feedback, it assists social learning and strengthens relationships and trust. For neurodivergent students, increasing this ratio up to 9:1 is beneficial. If you would like to know more, please watch the video below.

Why not try this at home to establish routines and support your child to do their best? It changes our language from what we 'don't' what to see, to clearly acknowledging and celebrating what we 'do' want to see in our young people.

At the start of the holidays our school also presented at the state Inclusive Education Expo about how PBL can be effectively implemented in a high school setting and promote a culture of inclusivity for all students.

We have now completed our training on all PBL classroom practices, so for the remainder of this year, our staff will be continuing to refine their PBL tier 1 practices in their classrooms before we begin the next phase of our learning journey in 2025, supporting tier 2 students with additional learning and behavioural needs.

Sarah West

Assistant Principal - PBL Framework Leader

Discovery Centre

Hello everyone, 

I'm Cherie Dawkins, and I'll be taking over Anna's role for the remainder of the year. I bring with me 15 years of experience in the education sector and leadership across a range of roles but most recently at Salisbury High School At home, I have a loving husband, three wonderful children, and two playful puppies. My interests include traveling, hiking, spending quality time with family, camping, and discovering new places. 

I'm thrilled to be joining the team at Golden Grove and am eager to connect with both students and staff. A few quirky facts about me: I used to be a singing teacher before becoming an educator, I have a preference for eating with plastic cutlery (yes, it's unusual!), and I'm definitely more of a savoury person than a sweet tooth. ;-) 

Looking forward to a great term ahead! 

School Life

Milliana - Australian Gymnastics Championships

Golden Grove High School is very proud of Milliana (Milli), a year 7 student who dedicates 10 hours of training every week at the Gymnastics SA in the High-Performance Trampoline Program. Just last month, Milli lit up the National Gymnastics Championships on the Gold Coast, proudly representing South Australia in the Youth International Under 15 Trampoline Individual and Syncro competitions, as well as the Women's SA International Team. Milli's dedication paid off with a thrilling 3rd place finish in both the Individual and Syncro events, and 1st place in the Women's Team event. Milli thrives on pushing her limits, mastering new skills, and connecting with athletes from across the nation at every event.

Congratulations Milli!

Year 8 Art - End of term pizza party

Mrs Hazebroek's Year 8 Art class exemplified our school's values and classroom expectations during semester 1, so much so that as part of their encouragement system this term, they consistently went above and beyond in supporting each other, creating a positive classroom culture and succeeding in their learning. They celebrated by enjoying a delicious hot pizza lunch together with their teacher and Year 8 Assistant Principal Sarah West. We could not be prouder of this class for being such positive members of our school community.

Staff Winter Lunch

With the chill in the air, it was the perfect time for our staff to come together and celebrate the term that was with some homemade soups lovingly made by staff members Billy Noack, Melita Hill, Sarah West, Kathleen Meyers and the Kuss family. Just like in our classrooms, we also seek out moments of connection together as a large staff, and what better way to do it than over a nice cup of warm soup and buttered roll.

The soups were a hit and continued to feed us through to the last day of term. On the menu was Minestrone, Greek Red Lentil, Pastina, Chicken Noodle, Potato and Leek and Mulligatawny, a well-known Indian dish.

International Education

Indigenous planting experience

Our international students from Brazil, France and Japan, have planted a legacy! 

They each chose a locally indigenous plant, as part of our Cobbler Creek to Dry Creek Habitat Restoration Connectivity Project, planted and protected with a tree guard. How thoughtful are their messages! 

We hope when you return for a visit, Edyane, Mauren, Poliana, Clémence, Elouan, Runa, Haruka, you can see how much they have grown and are providing habitat for birds, bees and butterflies! 

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Bunnings Parafield Sausage Sizzle Fundraiser for International Tours

We ended the term with another community event, returning to Bunnings Parafield to raise funds for our two upcoming international tours to Japan and Spain. We were abundant in volunteers and even with the cold weather people were turning out to support our students. Not only do events like this help us to provide new facilities and amazing opportunities for our students, but they are also a wonderful community connection event where staff, students and families get to come together and have a laugh. It's a loved event with many repeat volunteers happy to come out on a weekend to join in!

Wellbeing

With the July holidays upon us, we thought it was timely to remind families that this can be difficult for some of our young people. Holidays can take students away from friends and their usual school supports. Changes to routine can cause some young people to feel stressed, isolated, and alone. Parent/carer support is very important during this time, headspace has some information about keeping healthy over the holidays that may be helpful for some families, so if you have time, please follow those links and have a look at some ideas that can help your kids stay happy and healthy during the break.   

Tips for supporting young people:  

• Encourage them to stay connected: Social relationships are an important aspect of young people’s general wellbeing. Friends can provide both physical and emotional support, and spending time with friends is also important for keeping and building existing friendships.  

• Encourage them to stay involved: Whether it is work, hobbies, clubs, or sports – involvement with these can help a young person feel connected to their wider community.    

• Partake in physical activity: If your young person is feeling down or finding things difficult, physical activities such as walking around the block can help relieve stress and frustration.  

• Keeping to a regular routine: Getting a good sleep each night helps young people feel energised, focused, and motivated. Getting up and going to bed at the same time each day can help normalise their body clock. Don't let them fall into the routine of staying up too late and sleeping all day. 

• Help-seeking & support: Ensure that young people have access to support numbers, locally and nationally; and that parents/carers also are provided with these details.   

• Take time away from social media. Social media can perpetuate a feeling of isolation and missing out.  

If you or someone you know needs support follow this link Be You Mental Health Services and Support infographic.  It has all the major mental health support services all in one place. 

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Stay in the loop with our notification feature for daily updates and reminders.

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