Principal’s Message
Dear Parents, Staff, Students and Friends of WIS,
Adolescence is a necessary change that all school children undertake on their way to adulthood and it can be different for each of us. Knowing that both good and bad things come as part of life and how to deal with those is what we begin to learn more poignantly. The brain is an interesting organ that never directly experiences daylight but is tasked with coordinating all of our bodily processes through the nervous system, making both conscious and unconscious decisions to fulfill its duty. Researchers suggest that we have 60,000 thoughts per day in response to our environment. It’s no wonder that some of the thoughts we have are misguided, intrusive, automatic or harmful to us. Without attention, it can lead to rumination, catastrophising, anxiety and in extreme cases, thoughts about self-harm. These patterns of thinking are often hidden from others as we believe they are not welcome and won’t be understood by others.
With kindness, this week was about having that conversation very openly with young people. The particular experience of adolescence brings thoughts and feelings which are common to everybody but are often not shared or normalised. For a minority of young people, managing the strength of these feelings and thoughts is overwhelming. .
Thank you to the six experts who came to school and shared their wisdom as part of our conversations with young people. We are indebted to them.
John Shanahan – Developmental Psychologist – Central Health and Southside
Dr. Amanda Oswalt Visher – Clinical Psychologist – SPOT Centre
Bhavna Bharvani – Clinical Counsellor – Central Minds
Dr Kimberley Carder – Clinical Psychologist – MINDNLIFE
Dr. Monica Borschel – Clinical Psychologist – MINDNLIFE
Please take some time this weekend to listen to the conversation they had with your children. Over eighty parents came to the evening session and we have recorded it here for you also. Put aside some time to think about your child, your family and yourself – the advice these experts give is invaluable to parents.
Panel Discussion with Health Care Professionals (for Years 7-9)
https://youtu.be/_rmM3YZP8ZY
Panel Discussion with Health Care Professionals (for Years 10-13)
https://youtu.be/KsmtO8nhz7Q
Panel Discussion with Health Care Professionals (Parent Forum)
https://youtu.be/-HEtfCqUHN8
Podcast 1: Mental Health Discussion
https://youtu.be/zq5Dmj5vhd8
Podcast 2: Mental Health Stigma
https://youtu.be/9sRwGmQZqcU
Some further interesting podcasts were produced during the week and will keep you occupied as you hone your parenting skills. If anything arises for you, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Feeling grateful for the care and time which was created by our community this week.
Enjoy a good weekend.
Yours,
Christopher Sammons
(Principal)
COMING UP:
Monday 18 February: ESF University Fair at KGV for Year 12s
Thursday 21 February: Year 9 Parents Evening
Monday 25 February: Cardiff University at WIS – The HE Guidance team have arranged for Cardiff University to come into school between 1:20pm and 2:10pm to talk about medicine, radiography, physiotherapy, and other health sciences so that our students get a better idea of the range of health science programmes available for study at the university. As always, our parents are welcome to join and might find it a good opportunity to ask about fees and quotas for international medical applicants.
