Parents, Staff and Students

In the midst of our 30 days of Gratitude, I visited a website run by Generation Next. This organisation provides education and information about the prevention and management of mental illness in youth to professionals, young people and the wider community. I watched a short video presented by Dr Justin Coulson entitled Encouraging Gratitude in Young People.

He commences by saying that gratitude might be one of the most powerful predictors of happiness that we have. Researchers have found that if we can foster a culture of gratitude in young people and we are grateful ourselves and elicit gratitude in the young people we work with, they end up feeling better, they are more engaged in school and have better relationships with their peers and teachers. In short, their wellbeing is enhanced. We know that gratitude is reciprocal. You only have to thank someone for something and they normally thank you in return for something you did. Tell someone how much you appreciate them, and you are likely to hear the same back from them. So if we promote the practice of gratitude, we tend to build relationships and improve wellbeing. Don't forget you can join our 30 Days of Gratitude at cacgratitude@cac.qld.edu.au

Like many schools, we have spent time looking at ways to promote wellbeing, and gratitude is one of the easiest and most effective ways of building wellbeing. Gratitude is simple and can be demonstrated anywhere at any time. It is easy to express your gratitude about anything to anyone at any time. It costs nothing to say thank you. It makes you feel better when you acknowledge the work or efforts of others. We also work with our students on making meaning. This can involve service in our College or beyond. Being mindful of the needs of others is an important way of assisting or serving them. When students have the opportunity of helping others, they see this as meaningful. Our Year 9 Service week is a perfect example of how the students as well as the community benefits when we do things for others. The stories that come back after Service week are very positive. It is clear that the students benefit as much as those they help. As educators, we look for ways to talk to students about their strengths and how they can use those strengths to assist others. Service activity is meaningful for students and aids their wellbeing, while providing a benefit to others. By exposing students to opportunities to do something meaningful for others, we are likely to assist them to have more happy lives.

Grandparents’ Day last Friday was a fabulous success with hundreds of Grandparents and friends here to watch the Book Character Parade and visit the classrooms. I am grateful to Ms Shaw, Mrs Welham and their team who worked hard to ensure that the students had fun, learned a lot and that the Grandparents were suitably looked after. It seems to me that the Grandparents are getting younger each year!

This week I am pleased to welcome Ms Candice Smee who has come to teach Junior Secondary English and Humanities, replacing Mrs Lucy Williams who commenced her maternity leave on Wednesday. We wish Mrs Williams all the best for the pending birth of her first child.

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely

Mark Sly - Principal