At Hennessy Catholic College, we pride ourselves in our ability to provide excellent opportunities for our students on the sporting field, in the classroom and for their wellbeing, In the upcoming week, our pastoral program will be showcasing the many different aspects of pastoral care here at Hennessy. 

On Wednesday the 29th of March all Year 9 and 10 Ladies will be involved with the Enlighten Education Program. Enlighten Education is an evidence-based program that helps tween and teenage girls decode the mixed messages they receive and help them develop self-esteem and confidence; they are designed to be delivered in schools and are targeted at students aged 10–18. School workshops cover everything from helping young people manage their friendships, to increasing their sense of gratitude, to becoming advocates for social change. Enlighten will encourage students to reach their own conclusions and to know their own minds. Rather than telling young people what to do, we focus on informing, inspiring and empowering them. Enlighten encourages your students to be discerning consumers and critical thinkers and to find their own voice and power in a complex world. Our ladies will then move to PCYC where we will take part in some great team building activities. Further information is available on Compass.

The Year 8 students and Year 10 students will then experience Real Talk on Thursday (for Year 8 and Friday (for Year 10) Real Talk is an organisation that gets REAL on the topics of sex, relationships and personal identity. Based on Catholic values and using personal sharing from our team of presenters, we provide up-to-date resources, presentations and programs on these important topics.

The Catholic Church teaches that when it comes to sexuality, “It is imperative to give suitable and timely instruction to young people...”(CCC Article 1632). Due to the specialised and personal nature of these topics, many schools choose to use specially-trained outside presenters. Real Talk’s ‘Love and Life’ Seminars / Reflection Days are an opportunity for young people to hear from the presenters about the repercussions of poor choices and see the fruits of positive choices. Real Talk’s aim is to empower students to make healthy choices that show respect for themselves and others.

The presentation is targeted at young people in high school, with adjustments made for every presentation to remain consistent with the physical and emotional development of our audience. We use relevant language, discussion, videos, reflection, critical thinking activities and stories to inform, equip and empower students. The sessions include the following topics:

• Media messages / critical thinking
• Sexually transmitted Infections
• Respectful relationships
• The significance of physical intimacy
• The science and meaning of sex
• Consent
• Marriage
• Setting standards

There will also be a men’s and women’s sessions which discuss the topics of character, body image and pornography.

Real Talk appreciates the important role parents have in the sex education of their children, and aims to complement, and not replace, the present instruction of your children (Familiaris Consortio, 37).

On Monday the 3rd of April the Year 9 boys will then begin their journey with the Man Cave program. After the success of last year, the Man Cave program will continue its relationship with Hennessy Catholic College. The Man Cave” will focus on building respectful relationships, and will aim to guide the boys on how to build healthy relationships across all domains of their life. They will explore how to support others, develop empathy, resolve conflict , express their needs, and look at power/privilege and integrity.

We look forward to the fruits of these programs as we end the term and work together to continue the great pastoral work at Hennessy.