2015 School Magazine

BALANCE@BGGS MRS FORBES SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST AND STUDENT COUNSELLING COORDINATOR This year saw the launch of a new initiative from the Student Counselling Service: Balance@BGGS. The programme aims to enrich student wellbeing by encouraging balance in everyday life. Each term, students are encouraged to participate in a lunchtime, or before or after school session.Workshops about organisation, study skills and confident speaking; seminars regarding managing stress, navigating toxic relationships and adjusting to Year 7 and 8 as well as an Introduction to Mindfulness Course have been offered this year. Every Wednesday lunchtime Mr Pincott facilitates Wellness Wednesday where students are able to indulge in fifteen minutes of relaxation and mindfulness. Research suggests that mindfulness skills enhance mental health, resilience, executive functioning and empathy. Thus opportunities such as Wellness Wednesday are not only expected to allow students the chance to indulge in some quiet, relaxing time-out, but further contribute positively to their emotional health, social functioning and academic achievement. Term III saw the opening of the Balance Space and introduction of the Knitting Club. The Balance Space is an environment where students can engage in a game of Uno or Snakes & Ladders with friends, do some mindfulness colouring in or a jigsaw puzzle, grab a hot chocolate or herbal tea or relax on a bean bag. The space is technology free and students have been eager to explore and utilise the space for quiet reflection, making new friends, or chilling out. On Fridays the Balance Space hosts the Knitting Club. Students, along with many staff members, have learnt how to knit, share their skills with others, make an early Christmas gift or engage in knitting as a way to relax. We have been very fortunate to have two old girls, Mrs Jenny Sturgess (1969) and Mrs Sue Jordan (1967), generously offer their time to teach our Grammar Girls how to get started with their knitting. Decades of research have told us there is strong empirical evidence of the link between positive wellbeing and academic success. As such, Balance@BGGS has proved an exciting and worthy initiative for our School.

Girls meditating in the Balance Space.

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‘A place where you can be creative and relax’ (Year 7 students)

‘Happy and peaceful, I love seeing my progress with my knitting’ (Year 12 students)

‘It’s great to interact with other grades’ (Year 9 and 12 students)