Today is my 35th birthday. By my reckoning by the time this year’s Kindergarten class graduate in 2025, I may well be in a position where someone might ask me to give a graduation speech for them. So in the spirit of being prepared, here is what I hope to be able to say: May […]
Read MoreAssuming you and your school place student welfare/wellbeing high on your list of priorities, here are three questions to consider for 2012… 1. Who is the significant adult in the life of a 21st Century student? How and where do they spend most of their time? With whom do they converse most with? Is it […]
Read MoreAppalled by some of the comments made by BBC personality Jeremy Clarkson last week, I wrote this piece. It has been published on the ABC website, The Drum. “Imagine in the aftermath of a suicide on a busy rail network, trains don’t wait until body has been removed from tracks. Imagine the remains of the […]
Read MoreFed up with the constant media attacks on our youth, I sat down at the laptop and wrote this. And the National Times decided to publish it… Another day, another media attack on the youth of Australia. This time it’s the turn of Channel Nine’s A Current Affair, to have a report, “All parents should […]
Read MoreOf late, in my talks around the country, I have read this poem [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rv1r8CVr2k?hl=en&fs=1] I first heard this poem as part of a talk that my friend and unoffical mentor Richard Gerver gave in the UK last year – which you can view at the end of this post. The overwhelming response from the […]
Read MoreA few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Felicia Huppert. Felicia is a well-known researcher in the field of wellbeing, and has advised and informed the UK Governments policy making in the area of mental capital and wellbeing. Amongst other things, she introduced me to the work of the New […]
Read MoreIn case you missed my appearance on Channel 10 discussing youth depression and wellbeing, you can watch the interview here. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIUJt1zgK7A] Please share it with your staff at your school, friends or family. We need to keep on talking about it… Sign up for email updates here, share with your friends or connect on Facebook […]
Read MoreJUST BEEN INFORMED THIS WILL NOW SHOW ON TUESDAY NIGHT Just a quick note to let you know that last week I recorded an interview for the 6.30 Report with George Negus. It is due to be aired on Monday 15th September at (guess when?) 6.30pm on Channel 10 in Australia. The subject of the story […]
Read MoreOn Friday 22nd July, my colleague Ray Francis and I had the privilege of presenting a workshop at the AIS Pastoral Care Conference. The keynote speaker was James Nottingham. He gave an insightful, entertaining and at times, touching talk on the concept of Mindsets. Mindsets 101 In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, […]
Read MoreThe (anti) social media habits of schoolkids have taken up a lot of newspaper and online column space this week in Australia. The latest craze to take hold of our teens (doesn’t it seem like only last month it was planking?) is to “rate roots” via ingeniously titled “Root Rater” pages on Facebook. For the […]
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