2021 SHAW WEEK

STUDENT HEALTH AND WELLBEING

During week 5 this term, VCASS year 10-12 students were involved in the SHAW (Student Health and Wellbeing) program. Over three days, students participated in a range of activities with the aim to build on their overall sense of wellbeing.

Below are three student reports from the week and what they took away from the sessions.

There's a time every year where the junior school goes off to camp while our senior years resort at school, for the annual 'SHAW week'. A week where we take a pause from the fast-paced environment of the school year to come and remind ourselves and each other of the culture of kindness we should continue to create and pass on. As we know from the beginning of the year, the one word Ms Bland focused on was... kindness! Meaning kindness to your environment, to your relationships with peers, teachers and most importantly yourself. During SHAW week we took the time to listen to Will Centurion, an advocate for performers mental health, along with Eli Cooper, a respected, humorous alumni, to hear and reflect on their experiences. Later, we spent our time as a cohort outside in the botanical gardens, with lunch courtesy of Phil from the Cafe, creating a safe environment for all of us to relax. And finally, on Friday we spent the day at the beloved VCASS olympics, where we have the chance to work in our wellbeing groups. It was lovely to have a chance to lead and witness the smiles that were made of everyone who took the time to enjoy and let themselves relax during the week and create relationships and memories that will last a lifetime. I sure did!

- Zuzanna

'With our overwhelming schedules and busy lifestyles, it can be hard to have a pause and remember to take care of our mental health. SHAW week was a great way to not only remember how as artists we can take care of our wellbeing, it also gave us a chance to connect with our peers in different ways other than our academic classes, and just pull away from the chaos that is school life. The silent disco was definitely one of the ways we could continue to build relationships through an experience, being able to feel carefree and enjoy dancing around the school with each other was definitely a highlight of the week. Overall, SHAW week was truly a memorable way to learn about ourselves and each other and was very enjoyable to participate in.'

- Emma

'Thursday’s SHAW program was a great opportunity to learn some techniques and tricks to study efficiently. The Elevate Education seminar included how to enhance your ability to learn and have astonishing results for any course or subject. When it comes to preparing for specific assessments, I always find that I don’t have enough time to revise. Even when I believe I’ve studied effectively, I get to the test and I find some topics that I have looked over the night before being completely erased from my memory because I forgot the content. After Thursday’s Elevate Education seminar, I realised it was my study technique that was letting me down.

At the beginning of the seminar, we were handed a pamphlet which we could fill in throughout the talk to remember the methods being presented. The presenter, Sam, said, “all you need to do to achieve your personal best is apply 3 simple steps: Learn, master and create.” As he went into detail about those steps, I started to feel more and more confident that I could overcome my learning obstacles, because he mapped out a structure which I felt gave me an organised way to start revising and learning that could help with my time management and memorisation.

After the seminar, speaking to my peers, we all agreed that this particular SHAW presentation was absolutely necessary and helpful. Some students decided they would only use a selected number of techniques presented, others took it all in and have now decided to change their whole study structure. All in all, everyone took something away from that seminar. The presenter was extremely fun and engaging with a sense of relatability. Not only was it an informative presentation but I found it was also motivating and inspiring as well.'

- Chelsea

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2021 SHAW WEEK