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Awaken to the endless possibilities within.

Layne Beachley, Awake Academy.

To begin the Pentecost Term, Margie White, Lauren Camilleri and I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the annual Connect in Hoops, Women in Sport Breakfast. This annual event is held in conjunction with the Geelong Cats Football Club, and we were extremely fortunate to be able have a small group of Year 12 students also attend and hear from the guest speakers who presented on the day.

To share more about this experience, Jessica Lumani, Emily Quarantotto, Demi Cahoon, Ruby Hogan, Marie Yotoko and Susanna Tomelty have written the below reflection:

On Wednesday 17 April, we were privileged to attend the Connect in Hoops Geelong Football Clubs’ Women in Sport Breakfast at GMHBA Stadium. During this experience, we were exposed to the complexities of wellbeing and the various methods that promote the importance of a positive mindset in approaching life. Numerous stories were shared by inspiring individuals, such as Layne Beachley – seven-time (six consecutive) world champion surfer, and Tess Brouwer – corporate athlete and mental health mentor. Through these anecdotes, Layne and Tess demonstrated resilience and explained the significance of mindfulness skills like Box Breathing, “I Am…” Mantra and the Five-Step Self-Care program, in their journey to a sound mind in their sport and personal lives.

Layne and Tess also shared information about their work with the Awake Academy, a program that they founded to promote the practical and internal ways people can improve their mindsets. Their motto, “Know yourself, grow yourself” connected with the group and exhibits a healthy state of wellbeing that we can all work towards with resources and an open eye.

The “I Am…” mantra also resonated with the group. We found that starting the day with a simple “I am…” followed by positive adjectives increased our self-esteem and motivation to work productively. Through this, we developed constructive thinking patterns that could be applied in any scenario to find an optimistic meaning in difficult or idle times. “I am grateful”, “I am loving”, and “I am capable”, were all examples the group felt reflected our values and will serve useful when faced with challenges. These basic words remain prevalent in the way we conduct ourselves in the future and hope to encourage others in following that same path with the “I Am…” mindset.

Through this event, we were gifted with a deeper understanding of the gravity of mental health and how different techniques can be used to effectively deal with hard situations – in study, in sport and in life; “It is not only about what sport can do for women, but what women can do for sport.”

To learn more about Layne Beachley and Tess Brouwer, and the work they do with The Awake Academy, visit their website at https://awakeacademy.com.au/.

We look forward to sharing many more of these events and opportunities with our students, and encourage all members of our community to awaken to the endless possibilities within as we all shine our light into the world.

New Teaching Staff

Throughout last term, we provided regular updates on the the work that was being done to address the impact of the current staff shortage across Victorian schools. This extended to the ongoing recruitment of new teaching staff to cover any remaining classes. We have continued this work over the recent school holidays, and we would like to welcome the following new staff members to Thomas Carr College:

• Mrs Fariya Nisha (Food Studies Teacher)
• Mr Hugh Suckling (Health and Physical Education)

With the appointment of the above new staff members, we are confident in our ability to continue to allocate teachers to all subjects at every year level. Considering the ongoing impact that the current teacher shortages is having on many primary and secondary schools within our local area, this is major achievement and I wish to acknowledge the understanding and support of all members of our community as we worked through these challenging times.  

If you have any questions related to the College’s current staffing arrangements, please contact your child’s Pastoral and Learning Mentor (PaLM) or Year Level Leader / House Leader.

Any subject specific questions can be directed to the relevant Learning Area Leader.

For all other questions relating to the above details, please contact Andrew Bryson (Deputy Principal – Staff and Operations) at the College.

Andrew Bryson
Deputy Principal – Staff and Operations