Last week I attended a week-long Pastoral Transformation Course run by Mind Health. It is the first of a three-block course.

The other participants came from all over the country between Auckland and Queenstown. We were able to meet via Zoom, which was familiar to us a year ago during the lockdown. I had forgotten how draining being on Zoom for 5 hours a day is! After the first day, I finally overcame my fidgeting and settled into getting to know the other students and taking in a lot of really valuable information. One of the first things we learned was the nine common obstacles to learning. At first, I thought, I suffered from only three of them, turns out there was another one! It is always good to know what obstacles need to be avoided! The tutor Richard Black was very good, and he guided us through a lot of material exceptionally well. We got to practise some of the new learnings and techniques on each other, which we did in the Zoom breakout rooms. This took some getting used to, not only talking to someone online but also seeing yourself do it on the screen as well! It was very weird, but it worked. During the next 10 weeks until the next block course, I have a few wee assignments to do each week, hopefully, I can get them done on time. I really enjoyed the course and I am looking forward to getting together with the others and learning more in 10 weeks.

Jo Cotton, Pastoral Care Coordinator & Young Adults Worker