Wellbeing
The highway to a happy life does not start at a specific point or at the launch of a career. It is a journey with many winding roads, and the sooner one prepares for the trip, the better! It is an important facet of Collegiate’s ethos that we prepare our learners for the journey. The baby steps taken in Grade 8 are just as important as the last steps at Valedictory and the day a Collegiate learner receives her National Senior Certificate results.
At Collegiate, a learner is supported, encouraged and assisted on her academic journey. She is provided with the tools of emotional resilience and encouraged to be positive. She is in a caring environment that seeks to understand each child’s needs.
A Collegiate learner will receive a holistic education as, “Your education has been a failure if it has failed to open your heart.” We expect our learners to be kind to each other. We expect each Collegiate learner to treat others with dignity.
The Collegiate Counselling and Well-being Department seeks out ways to assist our learners. It is spearheaded by Mrs Helmie, a long-standing member of staff who is a teacher and counsellor. She meets with learners to assist them with any challenges that they experience. In addition, we offer the services of a clinical psychologist, Mrs Sarita Brand, who is available to guide staff and learners in individual and group sessions. Her expertise is valued and allows us to keep abreast of current trends among learners and ways to best assist our learners.
Ms Sivuyile Ngcawe has a Master’s Degree in Social Work and is a full-time member of the Counselling and Well-being Department. Sivuyile’s past experience includes working at the Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Gauteng and four years at Nicro's Clinical Unit, where she has worked with both adolescents and adults.
We encourage our learners to balance academics with other aspects of being a Collegiate girl.
We take the digital footprint of each learner very seriously and undertake Screen Smart courses with our learners.
We offer a comprehensive academic support programme. These include the Studying Sisterhood run by the prefect in charge of Academics and all subject teachers offer additional one-on-one teaching when requested. This support programme is essential to ensure the well-being of our learners. In addition, we offer study skills and examination skills workshops from Elevate Education and from our Academic Committee.
Collegiate has adopted the ethos of positive education and the PERMA model.
Developed by Dr Martin EP Seligman (2011), PERMA represents the elements needed for well-being or a “flourishing” life:
- Positive emotion – experiencing positive emotions such as happiness, contentment, pride, serenity, hope, optimism, trust, confidence, and gratitude
- Engagement – immersing oneself deeply in activities that use one’s strengths to experience flow, an optimal state marked with razor-sharp concentration, intense focus, and intrinsic motivation to further develop
- Relationships – having positive, secure, and trusting relationships
- Meaning – belonging to and serving something with a sense of purpose and belief that it is larger than the self
- Accomplishment – pursuing success, mastery, competence, and achievement for its own sake
Another important aspect is physical health or vitality – exercise, nutrition, and sleep.
We believe that our learners should gain much from involving themselves in our community outreach programmes and in taking part in our sporting and intramural programmes. It is the bonding that takes place on the stage for a performance or on the field for a sports match that enhances the well-being of our learners.
“Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without a compass or sounding line, and no way of knowing how near the harbour was. ’Light! Give me light!’ was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.” – Helen Keller
