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At Â鶹ֱ²¥, our Christian vision of wellbeing is to cultivate all members of the community to flourish. As Jesus said,”…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”. (John 10:10) When a community enjoys life to the full, God is glorified and there is a deep love of serving each other. Â鶹ֱ²¥ values and promotes wellbeing as it is at the core of what we wish to achieve. It involves the wider Â鶹ֱ²¥ community including students, staff, parents and old boys. At Â鶹ֱ²¥ we believe that faith, character, virtue and the moral dimension of life is central to human flourishing and that human beings make more sense of life in community than they do as individuals. Our School provides a sense of belonging to students, staff, parents and old boys. The School will nurture its members to strengthen its community and provide an environment where positive wellbeing can be achieved and valued. Â鶹ֱ²¥ considers wellbeing to fall into the following domains as provided by the Australian Psychology Society. • Physical Wellbeing: the ability to carry out daily tasks with vigour • Social Wellbeing: the ability to have satisfying relationships and interactions with others • Emotional Wellbeing: the ability to control emotions and express them appropriately and comfortably • Spiritual Wellbeing: a guiding sense of meaning or value in life • Intellectual Wellbeing: the ability to learn, grow from experience, and utilise intellectual capabilities • Vocational Wellbeing: having interests, employment, volunteer work or other activities that provide personal satisfaction and enrichment in daily life These domains provide a framework for the School to assess its competency in addressing each area of wellbeing.
Â鶹ֱ²¥ has worked extensively with Dr Greg Wells in developing a model for wellbeing based around five key elements:
Connect Wisely
Connecting wisely relates to the broad but inter-connected domains of emotions, relationships and meaning. Wellbeing is most likely to occur when a person is connected to their own emotional state, to a caring community, and to a set of beliefs or principles that provide purpose and meaning in life. At Â鶹ֱ²¥ our Christian beliefs and practices are foundational to all that we do and we are intentional in providing opportunities for our community to ‘connect’.
Spiritual – Weekly Chapel, community Chapel services Community – Common Room functions, School service activities
Spiritual – Community Chapel services such as Evensong and Carols, Prayer group Community - Community Chaplain Rev Dr. Nick Foord (nfoord@shore.nsw.edu.au) Â鶹ֱ²¥ Parents Association events such as parenting seminars, Year group functions, and other community events. Foundation events such as Icebreaker and Sportsman’s lunch
Spiritual – Community Chaplain Rev Dr. Nick Foord nfoord@shore.nsw.edu.au Chapel services such as Evensong and Carols. Community – OBU reunions and events, committee membership, School Council membership, providing support to Old Boys on career and life issues.
The Wellbeing model is explicitly taught to the Preparatory School boys through curriculum-based lessons. In addition to these classroom activities, a number of other wellbeing initiatives are used to support the boys. Some of these include the use of mindfulness activities, healthy canteen choices, opportunities during break times to be physically active and a pastoral approach that fosters strong interpersonal connections between the boys and the staff.