Wellbeing & Engagement 

Welcome back - Term 2!

I hope all of our Rangeview families had a restful and safe school holidays - we are so happy to have our wonderful students back at school for Term 2 (and I’m sure many parents are happy about this too!).

And what a way to start the term - Week 1 was BIG!

I personally loved seeing all of the wonderful work our students did on ANZAC Day. I believe our students are never too young to learn about the history of the country and the sacrifices others have made in the past to allow us to live in a free and safe country today (of course, in age-appropriate methods). 

Our student leaders ran a beautifully fitting tribute over the PA, our school stopped respectfully to hear The Ode, The Last Post and The Rouse, and of course, we observed a minute’s silence to reflect and remember. There are some outstanding pieces of work on ANZAC Day up around the school and it has been great to see some classes continue to research and find out about the ANZACs throughout this week too.

Our School and Voice Captains also attended the Shrine of Remembrance at the end of Term 1, and learnt so much about the importance of this day on our national calendar. 

Mr Clark and Miss Hubbard ensured a very physically active start to the term with House Athletics and Cross Country. We were all so proud of the effort and commitment shown by all Rangeview students. In everything they do at school, all we can ever ask for is they give it a go and try their best, and this certainly happened across these two big sports days. 

The most pleasing things about these events were the support and encouragement shown towards others. As Super Sparrow spoke about at our Senior Assembly earlier this week, the teamwork was a real highlight. We encourage our students to keep this up across the term and become someone else’s biggest supporter - cheer on your friends and support others to be the best they can be.

Thank you to all of our community members who assisted over these sports days - they provide so much in terms of positive student engagement with school - so we truly appreciate your support!

Oh… and congratulations Solar!

Student Voice, Agency and Leadership

A strong goal of ours this year is to continually improve our approaches towards student agency and student voice. 

There is strong evidence that students become more engaged in learning when they have opportunities to:

•       exercise agency in their own learning

•       contribute to the communities in which they learn

•       improve the learning program for themselves and their peers.

Research findings indicate that student voice, agency and leadership have a significant positive impact on self-worth, engagement, purpose and academic motivation (Quaglia, 2016), which contribute to improved student learning outcomes (Hattie, 2009).

We are working with our students on their understanding and awareness of what ‘voice’ and ‘agency’ actually mean to help them recognise when they are using these skills. It is so important to us that our students are active participants and co-creators of their learning and development, and aren’t just simply ‘receivers’ of content.

Student voice is not simply about giving students the opportunity to communicate ideas and opinions; it is about students having the power to influence change. Authentic student voice provides opportunities for students to collaborate and make decisions with adults around what and how they learn and how their learning is assessed. 

Student agency refers to the level of autonomy and power that a student experiences in the learning environment. Student voice and agency are intrinsically linked. Agency gives students the power to direct and take responsibility for their learning, creating independent and self-regulating learners.

From as early as Foundation, students are making choices everyday about their own learning. It can be as simple as choosing the topic of their own sentence in writing, or choosing the type of hands-on resources that will best support them to solve a simple maths problem. As students grow and mature, the opportunities to take ownership of their learning increases significantly. 

Recently, we had small groups of students present at term planning days to provide their feedback and ideas to teaching staff, in order to help shape units of work around their interests. 

Next week, six students will participate in an amazing opportunity to share their thoughts directly with Department of Education curriculum writers. This will involve a two-hour workshop where our students will reflect on the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) curriculum, and assist the Department in reviewing and reshaping the curriculum into the future.

Parents and Carers of our Year 4, 5 and 6 students also received information yesterday about the Student Attitudes to School Survey, which will be conducted over the coming 2-3 weeks. This is another great chance for students to share their thoughts, feelings and opinions about everything we do at Rangeview. It is feedback that we take very seriously as we are constantly striving to create a school that our students are proud of, feel strongly connected to and foster a learning environment where they have a genuine say in what happens.

High Impact Wellbeing Strategies (HIWS)

Earlier this week, our staff undertook professional learning on the High Impact Wellbeing Strategies (HIWS). Our Wellbeing team has been working hard behind the scenes to gain knowledge in this area to share with our wider staff group. Our Education Support staff will also participate in this learning. 

The HIWS were released by the Department of Education earlier this year, after research conducted in partnership with Monash University. The seven strategies complement the High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS), which were published by the Department a number of years ago. The HIWS and HITS, when applied together, have been proven to have numerous positive effects on overall student development (learning and wellbeing).

The HIWS are:

• Build relationships with students
• Facilitate peer relationships
• Establish and maintain clear classroom expectations
• Support inclusion and belonging
• Foster student self-efficacy
• Engage students
• Promote coping strategies and facilitate referrals

Our teaching staff explored the HIWS, reflected in teams on our current practices and provided feedback using the FISO (Framework for Improving Student Outcomes) 2.0 Improvement Cycle / Continuum of Practice. 

The great thing is these strategies are already happening right across the school. The research and case studies have proven their impact, however I am so proud that these wellbeing strategies are priorities and expectations of what we do at Rangeview and already an embedded part of our culture here. We are well ahead of the game and it's our students who benefit!

Liam Sommers

Assistant Principal

Wellbeing and Engagement