We value the partnership between school, home, and community, and believe it provides students with a caring, enjoyable, and challenging educational environment.
Academic and pastoral needs are central to the holistic formation of our students. In the pastoral sphere developmental, age-appropriate pastoral and wellbeing programs are delivered in Rathfarnham.
Rathfarnham has a strong Pastoral Care team that includes the Homeroom teacher, Director and Deputy Director of Rathfarnham, Positive Education Co-ordinator and School Psychologists overseeing the social and emotional wellbeing of the students in Preparatory - Year 6.
A key aspect of our Pastoral Care is underpinned by our EMPOWER program, taught across all year levels.
EMPOWER - Wellbeing at Loreto Toorak
Loreto Toorak offers a Catholic education which liberates, empowers, and motivates students to use their individual gifts with confidence, creativity and generosity in loving and responsible service. We embrace the Loreto values of Freedom, Justice, Sincerity, Verity and Felicity. Through these, we foster a mutual respect and deep understanding of the individual, and a compassion for the broader community.
In a focused and caring learning environment, we empower young women to thrive with confidence. Our Wellbeing curriculum, woven into every aspect of a Loreto education, nurtures this confidence journey. From explicit curriculum taught from Preparatory – Year 10 and through pastoral programs in Years 11 – 12, we provide a supportive space for our students to explore their emotions, develop resilience to stress, and build critical skills such as metacognition and self-regulation. Our approach cultivates self-care habits, fosters positive relationships, and boosts academic performance. Through our school-wide strategy, we instil a culture where confidence flourishes among our students, shaping them into empowered leaders of tomorrow. By empowering our students to understand and prioritise their wellbeing and mental health, we aim to create a generation of confident, compassionate and capable young women.
Wellbeing approaches inform the delivery of the Loreto Toorak EMPOWER Program:
- Emotional Literacy
- Metacognition
- Positive Education
- Opportunity and Engagement
- Wellbeing Science and Health
- Environmental Connection
- Respectful Relationships and Social and Emotional Learning
Family Wellbeing Series
In collaboration with EMPOWER, our Student Wellbeing Program, our Family Wellbeing series recognises the vital partnership between family and school in nurturing the wellbeing of children and teens. Research underscores the importance of this collaboration in fostering protective factors for their development. This series empowers parents with insights and strategies to strengthen the parent-child/teen bond, providing effective parenting tools to navigate contemporary challenges at every stage from childhood to adolescence.
Camps/Tours/Pilgrimages
Camps, tours and pilgrimages are an important part of our students’ learning experiences. It is through self-reflection and discovery that they develop and challenge themselves.
- Students in Year 1 and 2 participate in a late stay at school
- Students in Year 3 participate in an overnight sleepover at school
- Students in Year 4 enjoy a two-night Outdoor Education camp
- Students in Year 5 spend three days and two nights at Sovereign Hill
- Students in Year 6 fly to Canberra for a four-day camp focusing on Australia's Parliamentary System and Leadership