SEWB on Country delivering Social Emotional Well-Being Days to students /

Early April, the School to Work Hunter/Central Coast Regions collaborated to deliver our second annual SEWB on Country Days.

SEWB, standing for Social Emotional Well-Being, is an area that our team has identified as one of the most important aspects of our participants' lives, and an area that greatly impacts on their growth and achieving their aspirations.

Over the two days, NRL Ambassador and State of Mind Facilitator, Joel Thompson, delivered the State of Mind: Get in the GAAME workshop to our current year 12 School to Work participants. Joel touched on important issues relating to stress management, building a strong support network, asking for help and ways in which you can check-in on friends and loved ones. Joel provided practical skills for our participants to implement in their everyday lives to stay on top of the mental well-being.

Students then participated in men's and women's cultural workshops, with facilitators Josh Sly and Sheridan Noble (Newcastle), and Michael Laurie and Bianca Nelson (Central Coast). During these workshops, Joel's messages were reinforced and put into context of cultural practices and belief systems for our young First Nations Mob. Students were shown ways to connect to country and people in order to heal trauma and assist others with their journeys.

This day has been very special and eye opening for myself and peers, learning and hearing stories from not only nrl and nrlw stars at the top but also hearing Josh’s story and how much culture and identity means to him. Moving forward I believe not only myself but my peers from today have taken a lot from the speakers and will continue and be better in our lives.

Brayden Skuthorpe S2W Participant

It was also great to have Newcastle Knights NRL & NRLW players - Bradman Best, Dylan Lucas and Tamika Upton come and join us at Callaghan College where they were able to connect with the students about their culture and how they deal with their mental health on and off the footy field.

The School to Work team in the Hunter/Central Coast would like to thank all facilitators, community members, NRL staff and host schools who participated in both days and assisted us spread our message of positive, healthy living to our participants.