As part pf the pastoral care team at St. Stephen’s, I’ve had the opportunity to help many students through difficult times over the years. As a means of self-improvement and professional development, I’ve recently started reading the work of Brene Brown; a researcher who studies courage, shame, vulnerability, and empathy. Sounds heavy doesn’t it? Here’s a little of what I’ve learned.
Imagine this scenario. You drop your child off at school or at a friend’s or at sport and you go about your day. An hour later, you check your phone and there’s a missed call from your child. What’s the first thing you imagine? If you’re like most people, you’ll imagine that something bad has happened and you feel the need to jump in and rescue them. It’s instinctual to want to protect our children.
We want our children to be resilient and courageous, however, we don’t want to see them fail or struggle. Unfortunately, the only way to grow courage and resilience is to fail and go through struggle. The key is learning how to get back up again and do so independently.
According to Brene Brown, courage does not exist without vulnerability. Vulnerability is the ‘willingness to show up and let people in’. Every courageous act, no matter how small opens us up to being hurt or embarrassed.
Our children will go through struggles in their lives, particularly during adolescence. There may be friendship issues or concern about failing grades. When our child says they’ve failed a big test or caused a friendship issue, our response if often, ‘it’s all good, don’t worry about it’ and ‘just find someone else to hang out with’. Unfortunately, when they hear this, they continue to worry.
If our response becomes, ‘tell me why you feel bad about it’, they feel heard and supported. This open the lines of communication and deepens the trust and connection we have with our children. They need empathy not sympathy.
Empathy creates ‘an environment hostile to shame’. It allows us to build trust with our children so that we can have the hard conversations. They can hear our feedback and be held accountable when they haven’t done the right thing and develop the ability to adapt to change.
If our children are to develop courage and resilience, they will do so while facing challenges. As parents, it’s difficult to watch our children struggle (I’ve been there), but it is crucial in their journey to becoming wholehearted individuals.
Take care
Mrs Sarah Stockton-Rice
Dean of Charis
Meet the UWA Scientists Day
On Thursday 27 August our Year 10 students went to the Science Café at UWA . Here are some photos of the fun they had on the day
Year 11 River Cruise
Friday 28 August saw the gala event Year 11 River Cruise. Students and staff alike shared a wonderful night together cruising on the beautiful Swan River. The theme of the night was “Famous Faces”, and with this theme The Beatles, Star Lord, Borat, characters from Inside Out, Cat in the Hat along with many more stars from both the past and the present graced the us with their presence. Thanks to Mr Mark Batten for his organisation of this fabulous event. We already look forward to 2021 with expectation and excitement.
Year 7 Team Building Day
On Wednesday 19 August, the Year 7 cohort traveled with their Deans to The Swan Valley Camp for a day of fun, focusing on Team Building and Leadership activities. Students were divided into 4 different groups and experienced physical and mental challenges in their quest to conquer the activities set before them. Obstacle courses included mud runs, rope climbing, commando crawls, see saw team balances, avoiding the mine fields and many other enjoyable activities. The Year 7’s learned of the importance of being resilient, working together, listening to others and how to agree to disagree with respect. We look forward to our second team building activity in Term 4.
A Day@DNA Zoo Incursion
As part of our National Science Week program, on Wednesday 19 August, Year 11 and 12 Biology students participated in an on-campus workshop where they learned about the emerging field of research that is conservation genomics. In a collaborative project between UWA and BioBarcode Australia, scientists are attempting to further protect Australia’s biodiversity by mapping the full genetic complement of some of Australia’s most threatened and vulnerable species of plants and animals.
Facilitated by a visiting UWA PhD student, our students participated in a partly hands-on, partly virtual experience where they magnified a sample of DNA using biotechnologies such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and gel electrophoresis. They also used Virtual Reality (VR) goggles to “walk though” the structure of a chromosome.
It was a great opportunity for Year 11 and 12 students to consolidate some skills and concepts that form part of their Biology curriculum, as well as to speak in person to a young scientist who is currently furthering her studies in the field of Australian marsupial susceptibility to parasites.
Elizabeth Kirby – HoLA (Science)
French Day
Year 7’s enjoyed celebrating French Day and assisting their Year 4 buddies in the preparation of Father’s Day.
Movie Night
Last week, the secondary school house captains organised a movie night for our year 3-6 students. It was a great night enjoying pizza while “Despicable Me’.
Australian Childhood Anxiety Treatment Study for 7-12 year Olds
A team at Griffith University is conducting a nationwide study that provides services at no cost to families. The study includes the following:
- A thorough assessment of your child’s anxiety with a trained psychologist via the telephone;
- Your child receiving one of two kinds of home based treatments delivered on a PC, laptop or tablet; and
- Two follow-up telephone assessments with a trained psychologist 6 and 12 months after treatment to track your child’s progress.
Click on the links below for more information and contact details