Yarra Term 2 week 6, 7 & 8

Hi everyone!

What a crazy couple weeks it has been! We are very happy to be out of lockdown now and have the opportunity to continue face-to-face learning with the young people.

Our last day on program before the lockdown (20/5) we had our last gym session with instructor Andrew at the Richmond Recreation Centre. We started our warm up on the treadmills and then moved onto a core workout which was challenging but really good. We got our heart rates up and enjoyed free time afterwards to try out different equipment in the gym. We always feel good after a gym session having released some endorphins :) We encourage students to be involved in their local recreation centres and hope this can be continued externally to program. For the afternoon, we had our final day at our street art workshop with Brody at the Yarra Youth Centre. It is always good seeing the students express themselves creatively and use their imaginations. Students were able to create pieces that they are able to take home and put them in their rooms or gift if they wish to.

For the last couple of weeks we have been running remote learning sessions on program days (Wednesday-Friday) via google Meet. We discussed themes that we would be offering in the week and used Jamboard, a digital whiteboard to allow students to be more engaged and interactive. We had Georgie, our YSAS worker run a D&A session with the students too. Georgie has joined us on the program this term and is offering additional support post program. The young people have been assigned a character strength identification project and an online workbook to complete independently outside of these sessions which is assessed and contributing towards their graduation criteria. We have encouraged the students to join in on their school’s remote learning program on the Monday and Tuesday to stay connected. We understand that it really has been a difficult time for the young people and we appreciate the efforts put in by the participants. According to headspace (2020) 'Inquiry into the Victorian Government's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic', outlined that 74% of young people surveyed, reported that their mental health was worse since the outbreak of COVID-19, hence why we believe it is incredibly important to provide the resources and extra support as much as we can.

We are really looking forward to starting back up and completing the program with the young people!