Kids Helpline
24 Hour Phone: 1800 55 1800
Where to go for help
I want to talk to somebody at school
Need help finding where the Wellbeing staff are?
Who can help you at school?
Student wellbeing is our top priority at Normanhurst Boys High School. There are many teachers you can speak to if you have any concerns or questions. These people will help you access the right kind of support.
- Your year group’s Deputy Principal
- Ms Free (Relieving Head Teacher Wellbeing)
- Your Year Adviser
- A Class Teacher
- Your Mentor (for Year 12 Students)
You can make contact at school, send an email or if you are not at school that day, contact the school office (9489 1077), tell them who you are and who you would like to speak to.
At school we also have specialist support staff available:
School psychologists
Ms Pritchard (Monday and Thursday)
Ms Rump (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday)
The school psychologists provide confidential counselling and support to students.
How to make an appointment:
There are several ways you can reach out to the Psychologists. You can
- Talk to Ms Free(Relieving Head Teacher Wellbeing) who will arrange an appointment for you.
- Contact the school office (9489 1077) and ask to make an appointment or ask your parents to help you make contact.
- You can visit the school psychologists directly in Klarner Cottage (if the door is open) or fill out an appointment request form located on the Psychologist’s door and then place it under the door. The Psychologist will then make contact with you to organise an appointment.
Learning and Support Teacher
Ms Ilic-Pelle (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
The LaST helps students with things like organisation, time management, study skills and strategies to help you manage your workload. She also works with students that may require extra support managing their academic performance and coordinates the Disability Provisions.
How to contact the LaST
- Talk to Ms Free(Relieving Head Teacher Wellbeing) who will arrange an appointment for you.
- Contact the school office (9489 1077) and ask to make an appointment
- You can visit the LaST in the Learning Support Staffroom, next to the Drama Room
Careers Advisers
Ms Woodhams (Wednedsay-Friday Week A, Monday-Thursday Week B)
Ms Ramsay (Monday-Tuesday Week A, Friday Week B)
The careers advisers provide information, guidance and advice to help students explore their education and career options. They can provide help and advice about things such as finding suitable education and career pathways and writing applications and resumes. They also organise and run important events and information sessions for senior students to help them access a wide variety of university courses, scholarships and other opportunities.
How to contact the Careers Advisers
- Visit Ms Woodhams or Ms Ramsay in the Careers Office in the school library to make an appointment
- Send an email to Ms Woodhams or Ms Ramsay
I want to talk to somebody at school but I am not at school
How to contact a teacher if you are not at school:
- During school hours, contact the school office (9489 1077), tell them who you are and who you would like to speak to.
- Send an email (Outside school hours, school staff may not be monitoring their emails regularly. They will respond when they can, but it might not be before the next school day.)
If you would like to speak to somebody more urgently, contact one of the support services below.
If you need to speak to someone urgently, call Lifeline (13 11 14) or Kids Helpline (1800 551 800).
If you’re in an emergency situation or you think that you or somebody else is in danger, call emergency services on 000 or go to your local emergency department.
I want to talk to somebody anonymously
These services offer free, confidential support to all young people.
24 Hour Online chat: Webchat Counselling
For anyone 25 or under – Kids Helpline is a free, private and
confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling service for young
people aged 5 to 25.
Youth Beyond Blue
24 Hour Phone: 1300 22 4636
Online chat (3pm-midnight): Chat online
Youth Beyond Blue provides information and
support to help young people in Australi
achieve their best mental health. They offer
one-on-one support from a mental health
professional so you can talk through your
concerns.
1-on-1 Chat (9am-1am, 7 days): Chat online
eheadspace provides free online support and
counselling to young people 12 – 25 and their
families and friends. If you’re based in Australia
and going through a tough time, eheadspace
can help with 1-on-1 online chat or register for
group chats about specific topics.
Lifeline
24 Hour Phone: 13 11 14
Text (6pm-midnight): 0477 131 114
Online Crisis Support Chat (7pm-midnight): Chat online
For all ages – Lifeline provides 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services.
QLife
Phone (3pm-midnight): 1800 184 527
Webchat (3pm-midnight): Chat online
QLife provides anonymous and free LGBTI peer support and referral for people wanting to talking about sexuality, identity, gender, bodies, feelings or relationships
Resources for students
Healthy mind and body
Try the Wellbeing Challenge
Your physical and mental health are fundamental to your learning and to your overall wellbeing. Taking good care of your body and your mind sometimes takes a little extra time and effort, and sometimes we need a bit of help. Below are some tools and practical advice that can help you take a little more control of your physical and mental health.
Smiling Mind is an online and app-based program to improve wellbeing of young people through mindfulness meditation. There are a variety of programs and sessions available to help reduce worry and anxiety, create a sense of calm, improve concentration and productivity, develop empathy and connectedness and enjoy better sleep.
All programs are free and each session takes less than 10 minutes to complete.
Recharge is a personalised six-week program that helps improve your general health and wellbeing by focusing on four key areas:
- a regular wake and sleep time each day, achieved gradually over six weeks
- an alarm clock that triggers fun activities designed to get you up and out of bed
- increasing your exposure to daylight early in the day, to help reset your body clock
- encouraging you to increase physical activity, especially within two hours of waking up.
Key features include practical tips to improve your sleep/wake routine and wellbeing, daily reports to track your mood, energy, exercise and sleep and graphs to help monitor your progress.
ReachOut
Website: https://au.reachout.com
Reachout provides innovative e-mental health services that enable young people to take control of their mental health and wellbeing.
Information, advice and tools are available to help with topics such as mental health issues, bullying, relationships, identity and gender, as well as everyday issues such as school and study, stress, isolation, healthy eating, sleep and exercise. Information is also available to help think about issues such as racism, climate change, discrimination, and reconciliation.
The Tools and apps page helps you find tools, organised into different goals such as Achieving Balance, Sleeping Better, Increasing Happiness, Developing Good Habits, Being Kinder and Being More Resilient.
Discussion Forums offer a safe and anonymous space to connect with like-minded people about a range of issues.
Healthy Kids Association
Website: https://healthy-kids.com.au/kids/high-school-2/
Healthy Kids aims to provide young people with information to help them make healthy food choices.
Find out about nutrition, different diets, caffeine as well as advice about what (and how much) you should be eating to maintain a healthy body and mind.
This Way Up
Website: https://thiswayup.org.au/
Learn practical tools to take care of your mental health. Check out our range of self-paced online courses that teach clinically-proven strategies to help you improve the way you feel.
THIS WAY UP is run by clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, researchers, and web technicians based at the Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and Depression (CRUfAD) – a joint facility of St Vincent’s Hospital and the University of New South Wales.
Their courses teach practical, psychological skills designed to help you manage difficult emotions, tackle unhelpful thoughts, and gain control over symptoms of anxiety and/or depression.
Digital safety and wellbeing
Digital devices affecting your focus? CLICK HERE for some apps that can help.
Many of the devices and apps we use are designed to distract us.
This is okay during leisure time, and sometimes distractions are good for helping us relax.
When you need to focus though, such as when you’re doing homework or study, when you’re in class or when you’re trying to listen to somebody, these distractions work against us.
Your working memory can only process a few pieces of information at a time. Everything else is forgotten. This is why sometimes you read the same paragraph over and over again but can’t take any of it in – something else is competing for your atention.
Some of us can easily control when we allow our phones and computers to distract us, but some of us need a little help. The apps in this document are designed to help you decide when your devices and notifications are allowed to take your attention – instead of letting them decide for you.
The resources below provide you with advice and tools to help keep you safe online, be a responsible digital citizen and make sure you are in control of your technology use.
eSafety Commissioner: Young People
Website: https://www.esafety.gov.au/young-people
This is the Australian Government’s website for young people, providing information to help you stay safe online and understand appropriate behaviour. Topics covered include cyberbullying, managing social media, protecting your information and your digital reputation.
There is also practical advice for what to do if you encounter behaviour online that makes you unhappy or uncomfortable, how to protect yourself, and how to support your friends.
Young and eSafe
Website: https://www.esafety.gov.au/educators/classroom-resources/young-and-esafe/student-home
This site offers young people with practical advice about staying safe online. Information and videos are organised into six online skills: Respect, Responsibility, Empathy, Resilience, Critical Thinking
There are short videos, advice from experts and links to further resources online.
Youth Law Australia: Internet, Phones and Australia
Website: https://yla.org.au/nsw/topics/internet-phones-and-technology/
Learn about your legal rights and responsibilities online. Issues covered include online privacy, cyberbullying, online scams and photos & videos on your phone.
Each topic includes information about what your responsibilities are, as well as what steps you can take if you think that your rights have been violated.
Respectful relationships
ReachOut - Relationships
Website: https://au.reachout.com/relationships
Reachout provides help with a range of issues relating to family, friendship and romantic relationships. These topics look at some of the challenges that come with being in relationships and suggest ways to handle them.
There’s a huge range of articles with practical advice, such as how to deal with pressure from your parents, talking to parents about mental health conquering social awkwardness, coping with a break-up, dealing with peer pressure, how to ask a friend if they’re OK and how you can be there for your friends when they need you.
This is just a small selection of the topics available. The Discussion Forums also offer a safe and anonymous space to connect with like-minded people about a range of issues.
The Check-In
Website: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/about-us/about-our-work/youthbeyondblue/the-check-in-app
Get the app:
The Check-in is an app for young people, designed by Beyond Blue. It’s for anyone who wants to check in with a friend but is concerned about saying the wrong thing or making the situation worse.
The app takes you through four steps, getting you to think about where you might check in, what you might say and how you might support your friend. There is also a section showing you things to consider, such as what if my friend denies there is a problem or what if I say something silly.
After you’ve had a conversation with your friend, the app can also give advice about the best next steps.
There’s also links to where you can get support and tips from young people.
Making good decisions
Youth Law Australia
Website: https://yla.org.au/nsw/topics/
Youth Law Australia provides information about your legal rights and responsibilities in NSW, to help young people make informed choices about their behaviour, and how to deal with different situations.
Topics include things like Cars and Driving, Internet, Phones and Technology, Drugs and Alcohol and Public Transport.