With only four weeks left, we still have many exciting events before the end of the term. We have had an excellent start to the term with Elephant Ed coming to visit our Year 8’s. We received terrific feedback. 100% of students gave a thumbs up, and 98% want Elephant Ed to return.
Elephant will visit all students in Years 7-10 to deliver outstanding and relevant social/emotional programs in Terms 3 and 4.
The Wellbeing Team has another two fantastic events coming up. We have our Dads and Teens Games Night on 31 August (6:00 pm -7:30 pm).
We are also excited to announce that Student Eye Care is coming to Fairhills at the end of this term. This is a Free Eye Tests Covered through Medicare. For more information about these upcoming events, see below for more details.
“Judge nothing, you will be happy. Forgive everything, you will be happier. Love everything, you will be happiest.” – Sri Chinmoy
Amal Saleh-Zada| Student Wellbeing Coordinator
Dads and Teens Games Night
Come and join us for a fun night with games and pizza!
We are hosting a Dads and Teens Games Night to acknowledge the importance of Fathers and Father-figures. We are also launching The Fathering Project at Fairhills.
When: Wed – 31 August (6:00 pm – 7:30 pm)
Where: Library – Fairhills High School
Cost: FREE
Book your free spot via: https://www.trybooking.com/CBQII
The Fathering Project educates, connects and mobilises fathers and families to create brighter futures for all children. It is research-based prevention and early intervention programs and resources that engage, inform, inspire, equip and support fathers, families, schools, corporates and community-based organisations. It’s simple, fathers and father figures play a critical role in preventing long-term social, emotional and cognitive difficulties and creating the conditions for children to thrive.
Student Eyecare Program at FHS – Free Eye Tests Covered through Medicare
Haven’t had your child’s eyes checked in a while?
- According to the Optometry Association of Australia, every person should get their eyes checked at least once every two to three years.
- At least 1 in every 6 students have vision issues that go undetected.
- All students are given a detailed report at the end of their eye tests.
- Find out if your child’s eyes are in good condition!
The school is pleased to announce that it will be running a welfare initiative called the Student Eyecare Program in Term 3, 2022. An optometrist will be onsite during school hours to provide students with a comprehensive eye examination. Each attendee will receive an individual report regarding the eye health and a prescription will be provided if glasses are required. The school will not have access to the individual report but will be notified if glasses were recommended. Please note that this service does not sell glasses and the prescription can be taken to any optical store.
The program’s aim is to detect visual problems that may interfere with a student’s learning abilities and subsequently hinder their academic potential. A significant number of students have visual problems that go undetected. The main visual issues that go undetected are inadequate focusing and eye teaming abilities that could lead to symptoms such as poor concentration, fatigue, headaches and unwillingness to read.
This eye health service is available to all students and is covered by Medicare Australia. It is a Medicare Bulk Billing service– so there is no cost to the students. The form is to be completed by the parent or guardian.
Register now: https://forms.gle/tzy2wM1LM8mRJYod6
FOR MORE INFO, PLEASE VISIT WWW.STUDENTEYECARE.COM.AU OR CONTACT (03) 8644 7012
Elephant Ed
Elephant Ed will visit our Year 7-10 throughout Term 3 and 4 to discuss issues commonly faced by adolescents, including safety, identity, body image, social media, and other issues. They deliver age-appropriate workshops that are tried and tested across all relevant age groups and are mapped to State and National curriculum guidelines. They work towards empowering young people to make informed, positive and safe decisions about sexuality, relationships and growing up.
All kids deserve a fair go
Variety believes all kids should have the chance to follow their dreams and reach their full potential. So we’ve created two kinds of Variety Heart Scholarships to help kids do just that.
- Existing Talent is designed to support children with a demonstrated talent who are living with disability or illness or experiencing disadvantage, to reach the next stage of development in their talent.
- Educational is designed to support children who are experiencing disadvantage assistance to cover the basic educational needs.
All kids deserve to follow their dreams.
Whether it’s a dream to compete at a higher level in sport or wow a crowd on a stage – Variety Heart Scholarships can cover items such as travel, accommodation, equipment, coaching, competition fees and much more.
Scholarships are awarded up to the value of $5,000 in the areas of Education, Sports and the Arts.
Who can apply?
Australian citizens, permanent residents or residents of Victoria, aged 6 to 17 years and able to demonstrate an existing talent with Education, Sport or the Arts. Please read the guidelines and refer to their list of Frequently Asked Questions before you apply.
All submissions received by the end of each month will be assessed in the following month until our allocation is exhausted.
For more info visit: https://www.variety.org.au/vic/scholarships
BE KIND TO YOUR BEAUTIFUL MIND!
Lunch Time Groups
Explore, facilitated by Gail, our School Chaplain, is a group for Year 7/8 girls and students who identify as female to connect through games, crafts, activities and discussion. The group will explore themes of friendships, personal strengths, coping and lots more. It runs Tuesdays at lunchtime in the Wellbeing Centre. Interested students can speak to the Year Level Leader or pop in to see Gail on a Monday or Tuesday for more information.
? Squad – our LGBTQ+ group continues to run on Thursday lunchtimes in the Wellbeing Centre and is open to all students. Each term the students attending decide what they would like to do during the weekly lunchtime sessions. Over the year so far we have talked about self-care and relaxation, made rainbow bead bracelets, decorated cookies, worked together to create a Pride Month Calendar to raise awareness about gender and sexual diversity, had a karaoke session, shared our favourite LGBTQIA+ friendly books and TV series and continued to build and support a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQIA+ students and allies.
Feel Good Fridays– Our 5-week workshop series about the connection between body and mind finishes up this week. We have had a great response from students as we have explored Nutrition, Sleep, Exercise and Relaxation and how looking after our body can enhance our mental wellbeing as well.
R U OK?
Our whole school campaign for Term 3 is RUOK? Day. We are excited about spreading a splash of yellow in Week 9 as we roll out a number of activities to encourage helpful conversations between friends, families and colleagues. Watch out for more info to come over the next few weeks. Students will be participating in class sessions, we will be creating an RUOK? mural and our food tech classes will be baking up an R U OK storm for fundraising. Stay tuned!
Breakfast Club
Breakfast Club is held in J2 – entrance from the Canteen Courtyard) as follows:
- Monday – recess – basic breakfast
- Tuesday – recess – basic breakfast
- Wednesday – before school – basic breakfast
- Thursday – before school – pancakes
- Friday – before school – basic breakfast
Families in need – Internal Food Options
Tuesday 2 August and every fortnight after (Tuesday 16 August, Tuesday 30 August etc) our Frozen meal and Pantry is open to students and families that this is helpful for. Please meet our Chaplain Gail in the Canteen after school, from 3:09pm to 3:45pm. All Welcome.
Families in need – External Food Options
For families in need please see the following services that support the community:
Student Wellbeing Team
Student Wellbeing Coordinator – Amal Saleh-Zada
Mental Health Practitioner – Peta Cartwright
Chaplain – Gail Ackroyd
University Placement Students: Elli, Kerrie, Michelle
Accessing Support through Wellbeing
The Wellbeing Team can assist students in accessing the support they need to navigate challenges that may impact their ability to engage in learning or general feelings of Wellbeing. For example, the Wellbeing Team can engage the student or family in an initial assessment of need, short term counselling or skills development or referrals to external support agencies. Students may also be encouraged to access self-help strategies or resources. We will explore the best options for each student.
We encourage students and/or parents to contact the year level leaders for wellbeing referrals. You can also make an appointment with someone from the Wellbeing Team by attending the Wellbeing Centre or contacting us via email at wellbeing@fairhillshs.vic.edu.au
Teachers who have concerns about a student may also refer them to the Wellbeing Team through their Year Level Coordinator.
If you or anyone you know needs immediate support, please contact kidshelpline or lifeline on the numbers at the bottom of this page.
