Congratulations to all the students and staff that celebrated and raised money for Do it for Dolly Day on Monday. The VPC students organised activities to support the importance of being kind to each other and never accepting bullying.

Students in years 4-12 will be participating in the student survey over the next month. The student survey captures student voice for all areas of schooling including teaching, engagement, bullying and wellbeing issues. The results of this survey allows us to plan for the teaching and wellbeing of our students.

Lucy, Lyn and I recently attended the literacy learning workshop in Hamilton with Emina Mclean, she specialises in improving the literacy standards of all students including reading, writing and comprehension. The school has introduced a structured literacy approach to the way we teach and plan literacy which will lead to improved student outcomes in this area for our students.

Brad and Leigh attended the Numeracy workshop in Warrnambool yesterday, the focus was improving maths skills for students and the importance of practice and learning that is automatic. This frees up student memory to learn new skills in mathematics. Leigh and Brad will share their learnings with staff and introduce these practices into the way we plan and teach mathematics across the school.

Thankyou to all the families that returned their survey regarding the new logo, number 1 was a clear winner, we are now working with Star Printing to design the logo for the uniforms and correspondence. See the winning design below.

Take care

Kylie Carter

Middle Years students have been busy learning about the effects of bullying and how bullying impacts others. We talked about different types of bullying and how this looks and sounds. Students watched videos and discussed the impacts of bullying respectfully and compassionately. One of our activities was to create a “Kindness” wall in which students created their beautiful, creative posters. Another activity was to google “helplines” if they ever needed someone to talk to for support.

Pat Cronin was a gentle natured 19 year-old killed by a single Coward Punch in 2016 while helping a mate who was being attacked. The force of that punch fractured Pat’s skull, causing an inoperable bleed on his brain. Two days later, Pat’s parents Matt and Robyn Cronin, made the agonising decision to turn off his life support. We use Pat’s story as an illustration of what can happen when young people are faced with violence, and how wiser choices can be made. Using this approach we know we have saved lives, prevented incidents and helped young people to reflect on and change their attitudes to violence

Rebecca came to Hampden last week to deliver the story of Pat Cronin. The message she delivered to us was

Violence is Never OK:

Outcomes of a Coward Punch In our thought-provoking interactive presentation, students hear real and relatable stories about social violence, exploring:

▶ Anger and aggression.

▶ Choices and consequences.

▶ Strategies to defuse conflict. We share Pat’s story to illustrate the worst possible outcome of social violence, and help students make wise choices. Learning Outcomes

▶ Students better understand how to deal with anger before it becomes aggression.

▶ Students are shown how a single decision can have life-lasting consequences.

 ▶ Students discuss and develop an awareness of strategies that suit them and their friends

Youth Mental Health Roadshow is coming to our region!
Join leading psychologist Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg as he shares practical strategies with parents/carers and educators to best support young people navigate today’s challenges, with a strong focus on student wellbeing and building resilience.

• Warrnambool, Portland, Camperdown, Hamilton, Kaniva & Horsham

• May & July 2025

• Free events

Educator Session: 4:30–5:30pm

Parent/Carer Session: 7:00–8:00pm

To register: https://brophy.org.au/youth-mental-health-roadshow-coming-to-a-town-near-you/

Proudly supported by Brophy Family & Youth Services, School Focused Youth Service, and the Department of Education & Training.