What is your role?
My role is to work with our Year Patrons to help support not only the academic needs but the socio-emotional development of our students and ensure they are maintaining their well-being. This is vital in Senior School as the pressures of school and studies can be overwhelming for some.
Can you explain what student well-being means?
Student well-being underpins the educational experience of all students at Masada College. As a College we believe that by providing a supportive and nurturing environment the school contributes to the development of students’ sense of self worth, enthusiasm for learning and optimism for the future. The College prides itself on a whole school approach, acknowledging that well-being can be influenced by a number of factors, which can impact a student’s learning and connectedness to the classroom.
What are Year Patrons?
Our patrons are the backbone of our well-being program, ensuring they are the parent figure at school and that important link between home and school. Our Year Patrons are approachable, experienced, supportive, compassionate and ready to support our students to ensure they achieve to their best of their abilities.
Our Year Patrons for 2019 are :
Year 12 – Mrs Lyn Rutherford, Year 11 – Mrs Susie Virgona, Year 10 – Mrs Carly Easterbrook, Year 9 – Ms Danna Rosen, Year 8 – Ms Ellana Costa and Year 7 Ms Jennifer Thwaite.
In addition, we are excited to have on board Mr Jack Liang as our Head of International Affairs and Student Liaison Officer. Mr Liang has a wealth of knowledge and expertise with international students and we welcome him to the College and we know his relationships with our International Student body will flourish as the year progresses.
What do Patrons do?
The Patrons hold a fortnightly meeting with all the staff that teach their year groups, at which each student in the grade is discussed in order to gain an impression of their overall progress or any issues that may be emerging. Our aim is to be proactive rather than reactive to situations. Discussions with parents and/or students may be initiated from the information collected at these Patron meetings.
Each year group has a weekly meeting time with their patron, where issues can be discussed but this is also where much of our student well-being program is carried out. Students are engaged in programs that are specific to each year group and are based on topics that may be affecting students during this time of their lives. Our programs touch on topics such as study skills, stress management, cyber safety, healthy relationships and students are fortunate enough to be addressed by industry professionals specialising in adolescent development and wellness. Clubs also give students the opportunity to pick from an extensive range of well-being activities encouraging them to switch off from technology and engage in a range of offerings from knitting and crochet, to board games, hockey, basketball, soccer, mindful colouring and walking, to name a few.
What about co-curricular activity?
Balance is key to success in senior school. There is a lot of evidence that shows the important role that socialising with friends has on your happiness and outlook on life. Picking up a co-curricular activity is a great way to maintain this balance. We have on offer after school sport, music, tech crew, da Vinci decathlon, debating, public speaking and mock trial.
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