Research has shown that goal setting places an important role in helping promote focus and aspiration. At ERC we are committed to helping the boys develop clear and achievable goals. Recently, these were made accessible to parents via TASS. I encourage you to talk regularly your son(s) about his goals and helping him to develop strategies to achieve these.

Feeling stressed, anxious and worried are the bodies normal reactions to challenging situations and environments. However, for some young people this feeling sticks around a little longer than they would like. Headspace provides some valuable tips to help young people manage anxiety.

I also take this opportunity to remind parents of the College’s subscription to the My Strengths parenting courses, valued at Over $300 these course are available to all our ERC parents free of charge. A link to these course can be found here.

The ability to recognise the need for help and the capacity to seek help and support are incredibly important in supporting the health and wellbeing of young people. The results of our survey indicated that 85% of our students have someone they can go to for help when they need it and 97% of our students are aware of the structures in pace at school to support their wellbeing. Reach Out is an organistaion committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of young people. Please find here a link to an article from Reach Out which highlights the importance of help seeking skills for young people.

Social Wellbeing

I am delighted to share with you the overwhelmingly positive affirmation of family relationships by the boys. Positive relationships between teenagers and their parents play a significant role in the emotional and social development of young people, providing a sense of safety and security. Raising Children.net.au provides an excellent insight into the parent/teenage relationship and provides some valuable advice about how this can be enhanced, a link to this article can be found here.

The ability to stand up to Peer Pressure is a key feature of our Pastoral Program, survey results indicate that the boys are well equipped to respond to peer pressure. If you would like to know more about how to support your son in relation to peer pressure please read the article attached here.

Participation in extracurricular activities is an excellent way for young people to connect with like minded peers, across the school community and further develop their skills and talents. Participation in extracurricular activities plays an important role in the building of self esteem, encouraging school connectedness and helps to build important life skills such as time management skills and resilience. Furthermore the latest research shows that there is a correlation between participation in extracurricular activities and improved academic performance, academic aspiration and attitude to learning. There are an extraordinary range of extracurricular activities on offer at ERC if your son is not currently involved in one of these activities I encourage you to talk to him about taking up one of these opportunities in Semester 2.

Mrs Hughes
Director of Pastoral Care & Wellbeing