Our Year 8 students attended a wonderful and challenging incursion with Real Talk in Centennial and McAuley halls last Tuesday. Based on Christian values Real Talk is an organisation that encourages students to 'get real' on a range of issues related to personal identity. Led by engaging presenters the day was full of activities and interactive discussions around the core themes of ‘Love and Life’.
The students learnt about The Four Facts of Life:
1) People are a gift from God
2) People are sacred
3) We are made in the image of God, and
4) Every person is created by God for a purpose.
In essence, the nature of human relationships was at the core of the day’s activities. After lunch, the groups were split into single-gender groupings, with gender specific discussions around the nature of respectful relationships. This day tied in beautifully with the Religious Education curriculum in Year 8.
Here are some student reflections from the day:
Real Talk showed me that no matter what happens to you, you are worth the same. Real Talk showed me how to be a good person in a relationship. — Kale
The sessions made me think about the relationships I have in my life and how I view myself as a person. — Lauren
The Real talk session showed me the responsibility and worth that comes with relationships and understanding emotions. It also taught me about self worth and correct actions in wrong situations. — Perry
During Real Talk I found out about relationships and how I view myself. This is important because it can affect the way that I treat myself and others. The way that we view ourselves can affect our decisions in life. In the talk we learnt basic concepts for us to be able to accept ourselves and others in healthy relationships. — Lucille
Real Talk made me think about how I view the world and how it changed my perceptions of how I think about myself and my worth and relationships between two people. — Chloe
The Real Talk session made me change my perspective about how I view everyone and the relationships I have between people and that we shouldn't change who we are to feel good enough for someone else. — Jasmin
I learnt that God will always love you no matter what and to respect others and yourself. — Will
Real Talk was good because they talked about how to treat yourself with respect and others. — Virgilio
The games, although fun, also made us think about real life and tough decisions that we have to make. The most knowledgeable game was where we were given scenarios where we had four choices and we had to order the answers from the most to the least sensible. — Danielle
I learned a lot about the consequences of doing the wrong things on social media and in real life, and it made me a lot more aware of the things I should and shouldn’t do. They were also very open with us and made us comfortable so we were more open to say things and answer their questions. — Jett
The fantastic speakers from Real talk gave us a great opportunity to learn and experience new things such as what to do in situations when being peer pressured, making choices, tips on relationships and much more. The boys learnt things about strength and the girls talked about what beauty is. — Cheyenne
