Yarra Term 2 week 4

Hi everyone!

On Wednesday we spent the morning at CAS covering the topic of respectful relationships. It is important to discuss this because it reiterates to everyone what vales are key in healthy relationships and respect is about treating ourselves and others with dignity and consideration. It also reminds young people to feel valued and accepted for who they are. This topic led us to our session at headspace in Collingwood where we had Alan join us and talk with us about Mental Health Awareness. We spoke about what is mental health and mental illness and ways we can recognise it and deal with it. headspace is a National Youth Mental Health Foundation providing mental health services to 12-25 year olds and have more than 100 centres throughout Australia. We believe this is also paramount to discuss such a topic to break down the stigma surrounding mental illness. We want to provide the best support possible to our young people and give them the tools to seek support if ever needed. Later in the afternoon we went to the Collingwood Children's Farm where we had Tony takes us around the park imparting her knowledge about the animals and vegetation. We had the opportunity to feed the goats and see the horses and sheep. We were lucky to have nice weather for the day and enjoyed being in the sun for the afternoon.

On Thursday the students attended a day workshop at Reach, an external provider to our program. Their workshops are designed to develop the social and emotional wellbeing of young people and empower them to stand up for what they believe in and give them the skills to navigate life's challenges.

Today (Friday) we went to the South Melbourne Life Saving Club and spent the morning learning what to do in an emergency situation, how to effectively perform CPR and how to read and give signals on the water. Students that attended will receive a certificate of participation for their CPR introduction which will be great to put on their CVs. After lunch the young people geared up to go into the ocean where they practiced being on a rescue board, learnt different ways to paddle and industry standard rescue techniques. This was a great day and we are feeling more confident about our Surf Camp next week!