Wellbeing and Learning
Students are better prepared for learning when they are healthy, safe and happy.
The Wellbeing Team acknowledges that the secondary years of education can be very challenging and at times students need additional support to enable them to reach their full learning potential.
We are committed to helping students to develop positive attitudes and behaviours. Our students are important to us and it’s a privilege to help them achieve their best.
Wellbeing Support
We provide our students with a range of services to support their social, emotional and physical health, including:
- One to one appointments
- Mediation
- Delivering classroom based health education
- Workshops & groups
- Community referrals
- Whole school health & wellbeing strategies—Mind Matters, eSmart, My Friends Youth
We value our school community as crucial to supporting the health and wellbeing of students and encourage participation where possible. Please contact us for further information on how you can be involved.
Wellbeing Information
Student wellbeing and student learning are intricately linked. This connection combined with the complexity and challenge of societal change means that student wellbeing continues to be an essential priority for Fountain Gate Secondary College
Student wellbeing develops when:
- A student has a positive sense of identity
- A student has a range of supportive relationships with others
- A student has a sense of belonging within a community
A positive sense of identity is enhanced by students being valued and respected as learners, by encouraging self understanding and self direction and by focusing on the development of the whole person.
Supportive relationships develop when students feel listened to and acknowledged as individuals and when there is a fundamental belief in the importance of respect for self and respect for others.
It is important to provide an environment in which students feel safe and secure and which also acknowledges the unique nature of each individual and their stage of development. This involves flexibility in programs and pathways within a context of clear expectations and boundaries.A school community is built on clear values and aspirations and supportive relationships. When students feel strongly connected to their school community their academic, social and personal development flourishes and they are able to develop the confidence, optimism and skills required to take their places in the world.
Fountain Gate Secondary College Commitment to Child Safety, Security, Well-Being and Support
At Fountain Gate Secondary College, we have a commitment to the implementation of the Child Safe Standards and a strict obligation to the safety, security and well-being of every child in our care and in our wider community.
The Fountain Gate Secondary College student cohort is comprised of children from various cultural, social, religious and ethnical backgrounds, many of whom have experienced trauma in their home countries, prior to coming to Australia. Several hold refugee status, and come from cultures where practices and social ethics are different to those that are accepted within our community. We recognise that our staff have a responsibility to ensure that each student feels that they belong, feels safe, feels secure and feels supported as a member of our college family.
Every child has the right to feel safe and secure in their environment, particularly their learning environment. No person has the right to negatively impact a child physically, emotionally, socially, mentally or sexually.
As educators, we have a heightened responsibility for all students in our care and those in the wider community that we interact with. We must ensure that our actions, inactions or words do not place any child at risk. We have an increased responsibility to protect, nurture and care for all our students.
Our College Council, Leadership Team and staff, both teaching and non-teaching, except the responsibility to protect and support every child in our care. We understand our legal obligations where any child makes a disclosure to us, or where we have a suspicion that a child is at risk. Every staff member at Fountain Gate Secondary College is obligated to report such disclosure or suspicion to the authorities for investigation. These authorities are the Sexual Offences And Crimes Against Children’s Unit of Victoria Police (based in Dandenong police station) and the Department of Health and Human services (through the Dandenong office).
Staff members who receive a disclosure from a student or young person that potentially may place the young person at risk, may feel overwhelmed with the responsibility that this places upon them. For this reason, our college policy includes protection and guidance for all staff members to assist with meeting their obligations under Ministerial Order 870. A copy of Ministerial Order 870 is accessible through this link and staff and college counsellors are encouraged to regularly familiarise themselves with the order to ensure that we are all well aware of our responsibilities to protect the rights of our children and ensure their safety.
Our college has a number of policies that have been ratified by our College Council that relate to the protection and well-being of children in our care. These are available on the College website or upon request.