Welcome Back!

Welcome back to all our returning and new students for 2016. We were fortunate with the weather over the summer break and students returned to school on Wednesday looking relaxed and well rested.

This year in Pastoral Care across the College, we are going to focus on Dr Martin Seligman’s research on the elements of wellbeing. This theory is made up of five elements: Positive emotion, Engagement, positive Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment; or PERMA.

It is important to note that wellbeing is a combination of feeling good as well as actually having meaning, good relationships and accomplishment. The way we choose our course in life should be to maximise all five of these elements. This will then enable us to flourish as individuals and as community members.

In Term 1 we will focus on the first element, positive emotion. Positive emotion is about increasing the duration of our positive emotions and reducing the duration and intensity of our negative emotions. It is not about being happy all the time or removing all negative emotions. It is about being aware of our thinking and developing the skills to see situations in a more positive light.

A good place to begin a reflection on positive emotion is to think of one good thing that happened over the holidays. Then reflecting on the term ahead, write down some positive goals.

As well as exploring positive emotions, students need to organise themselves for the year of study ahead. An important part of this is for students to have a defined study area. Students should not lie on their bed to study, instead their study area should be:

• Well lit;
• Well ventilated;
• Comfortable;
• Away from distractions;
• Neat and tidy; and
• Quiet, with no loud music.

Students should also aim to study in the same place, as it will create a pattern in their brains.

Little things make the difference. - Anon

Mr Brendan Delaney, Director of Students