School Chaplain
Hi I’m Jillian and I am very excited to begin my journey, as the Chaplain at Willandra Primary School. I am looking forward to getting to know our school community.
I have worked in schools for over 20 years and have spent the last 5 years working in our church supporting and encouraging our families and their children. My role as the School Chaplain is to offer support and care across the whole school community – students, staff and parents. When I meet with people who want to chat, it’s my goal to provide a safe space for people to share what they are going through – to listen and support well. You may see me in and around classrooms or out in the playground. A big part of my role is in individual student support, and I work closely with our Student Services Team to celebrate successes, develop resilience and support people in our school community. I would love for you to come and say “Hi” if you see me around our school. If you have any requests for individual support for your child, please direct these to your child’s classroom teacher and they will connect with me as needed. |
Chaplain's Chat
Term 1 Week 10
Our world has certainly changed a lot in these last couple of weeks, and it continues to keep changing. There’s not much in our lives that hasn’t been affected by these changes and it can feel like life is out of control, at the moment.
To try to combat the out-of-control-ness we look for words of advice or instructions for the things we should be doing to cope. There is so much information circulating about what we should or shouldn’t be doing to cope with this crazy-crisis, that we then find ourselves stressed about this too!
When life feels out of control, like now, we need to press ‘pause’ on our thoughts and stop for a moment to take a few good deep breaths. Let’s make a decision to keep life simple. A lot of the external pressures that keep us busy have been stripped away, so let’s not fill the gap by putting our own pressures and expectations on ourselves or our family.
Let’s try to focus on the following:
· Be kind to yourself and to those around you
· Focus on the 'What Is' and not on the 'What If' (as much as you can!)
· Remember that no one has ever been in this situation before, so we are all making it up as we go along.
ABC Kids has shared the following graphic for kids but I think it is just as relevant for us adults too. Let’s keep it as simple as we can, and take care of ourselves as well as those around us.
If you need someone to chat with about how you are feeling, or how someone close to you is/isn't coping, feel free to send me an email or call the school office.
Jillian Collins - jillian.collins@youthcare.org.au
Willandra PS Chaplain
Our world has certainly changed a lot in these last couple of weeks, and it continues to keep changing. There’s not much in our lives that hasn’t been affected by these changes and it can feel like life is out of control, at the moment.
To try to combat the out-of-control-ness we look for words of advice or instructions for the things we should be doing to cope. There is so much information circulating about what we should or shouldn’t be doing to cope with this crazy-crisis, that we then find ourselves stressed about this too!
When life feels out of control, like now, we need to press ‘pause’ on our thoughts and stop for a moment to take a few good deep breaths. Let’s make a decision to keep life simple. A lot of the external pressures that keep us busy have been stripped away, so let’s not fill the gap by putting our own pressures and expectations on ourselves or our family.
Let’s try to focus on the following:
· Be kind to yourself and to those around you
· Focus on the 'What Is' and not on the 'What If' (as much as you can!)
· Remember that no one has ever been in this situation before, so we are all making it up as we go along.
ABC Kids has shared the following graphic for kids but I think it is just as relevant for us adults too. Let’s keep it as simple as we can, and take care of ourselves as well as those around us.
If you need someone to chat with about how you are feeling, or how someone close to you is/isn't coping, feel free to send me an email or call the school office.
Jillian Collins - jillian.collins@youthcare.org.au
Willandra PS Chaplain