Moreland Term 2 Week 5

Hi everyone!

On Wednesday we had Tamika from Glenroy headspace join us at the Oxygen Youth Space. Tamika facilitated a mental health workshop for the young people and discussed what is mental health, the services offered at headspace as well as effective coping strategies for when someone is experiencing a challenging period. The session was informative and engaging with various activities involved. headspace is a National Youth Mental Health Foundation providing mental health services to 12-25 year olds free of charge. We believe it is paramount to provide such a workshop to help break down the stigma surrounding mental illness and to speak about ways we can help someone if they need extra support and different strategies we can do ourselves to get through tough times. We want to provide the best support possible to our young people and give them the tools to seek support if ever needed.

For the afternoon we went to our second boxing session with Sal in Maribyrnong. We spent some time reiterating the importance of values and having a positive mindset. We warmed up on the boxing bags which got everyone pumped up and breaking a sweat. The young people did a fantastic job at remaining persistent and pushing through when they were feeling like they wanted to give up. Towards the end of the session a few people took the opportunity to go into the ring to spar with Sal. It was great to see their efforts and skills put to practice. What a great end to the day!

On Thursday we departed Melbourne for our Surf Camp at Bancoora Beach. We all had a great time! Our surf instructor Kev met us at our accommodation not long after we had arrived and spoke to the group briefly about what to expect. We then all geared up in our wetsuits, grabbed a surf board and went down to the beach. On the sand, Kev introduced us to the techniques of how to stand up on the board effectively and how to read the waves and currents. The young ran into the water with excitement and got straight into it! They all did amazing on the first day. Everyone managed to catch some waves and stand up on their boards. We were very impressed with the talent in the group being able to stand up on their very first session. Great effort everyone!

After our surf lesson, we all had hot showers and then went into Torquay to have some well deserved hot chips down at Cosy Corner. For the later afternoon, we headed to Bells Beach where we had the chance to check out Victoria's renowned surf beach. There was hardly any waves but the view was incredible with a double rainbow in the distance. We enjoyed a walk along Bells Beach and some exploring time before heading back to our accommodation.

We spent the night at the Bancoora Surf Life Saving Club. We had some down time playing pool before cracking on with dinner. We had lovely BBQ burgers for dinner and apple danish with ice cream for dessert (yum!) . Everyone had their roles including setting up the table, cooking and cleaning. After dinner, we played some more pool games and enjoyed each others company. Brendon and I conducted individual midterm interviews with the young people in the evening. Students were asked about what they are enjoying about the program, what they are learning about themselves and what skills they are able to take back into school to help with their goals. They also received feedback from us. This was all positive and the young people's interaction with the conversations went very well. It was not long after that we all retired to bed as all of us were exhausted!

The next morning, we enjoyed pancakes for breakfast fuelling our bodies for the next surf session. Our surf instructor Kev came to the club and got us hyped for the day. The waves this day was a little bigger than previously so the young people were having a blast. They were able to spend more time practicing their surf skills and there were many stand ups. Brendon and I were really impressed with the students' attitudes, patience and perseverance for the surf lesson. They all gave it a good crack and enjoyed their time being in the water overall. The main focus of this camp was the 4 P's - Patience, Persistence, Participation and Positivity. During our debrief, students identified times they used the 4 P's and how they could transfer those skills to school. They all did a great job at contributing and making a positive connection to how they could use that particular character strength to assist them at school. We all shared our highlights of the camp and it was great to see that everyone enjoyed themselves. We made lunch back at the club and all together we cleaned the place before leaving. We packed the bus and made our way back to Melbourne. Everyone must have been exhausted because the bus ride home was fairly quiet, either sleeping or chilling out to the music :)

Thank you for another great week crew!