Respectful Relationships & Wellbeing News

Berry Street and Respectful Relationships

Why we teach Respectful Relationships

Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated.

A world where violence doesn’t exist.

The aim of todays message  aims to provide Parents, Guardians and Caregivers with information about the Respectful Relationships Initiative at Sacred Heart Primary School.

The Respectful Relationship initiative is a whole school approach to modelling and promoting respectful attitudes and behaviours, promoting gender equality, and preventing violence. The initiative follows recommendations from the Royal Commission into Family Violence which recognises schools as key settings to focus on prevention and create positive change. Schools provide opportune environments where positive attitudes and behaviours can be modelled,shaped and transformed, and where limiting gender stereotypes and gender-based discrimination can be challenged and addressed. Over time, these efforts can generate apositive cultural shift and lead to a new (and better) story for the next generation.

A whole school approach engages all functions of a school – as an educational setting, a workplace, and a  schoo community . This means the approach extends beyond classroom learning,and considers how the organisation, at every level, with every member of the community,including parents, guardians and caregivers, are collectively promoting gender equality and addressing the gendered drivers of violence against woman.

An effective whole school approach to respectful relationships requires consideration across six key elements. Planning and actioning strategies for each element is critical in creating andsustaining organisational change. By planning broadly across each of the elements, we are ableto focus on people, policies, programs and practices which support us to address and challenge limiting gender stereotypes and gender-based discrimination, and actively promote gender equality.

Berry Street Training for staff on the 9th of June

The teachers have now finished their days  Berry Street training program gathered together,

The course schedule is arranged around the five BSEM domains:

• Day 1: Body – how to help your students to regulate their stress response, de-escalate in school and classroom contexts, and provide strategies for increased focus.
• Day 2: Relationship – positive relational classroom management strategies that promote on-task learning.
• Day 3: Stamina – how to create a culture of academic persistence in your classroom by nurturing student resilience, emotional intelligence and a growth mindset. Engagement - motivating students with strategies that increase their willingness to learn.
• Day 4: Character – how to harness our values and character strengths approach for effective learning and for future pathways.                                                                                     

What we have learnt

The Berry Street Education Model enables participants to learn classroom and whole-school strategies to promote an understanding of the FIVE DOMAINS of the Berry Street Model.

Domain 1 - BODY

Building school-wide rhythms and body-regulation through a focus on physical and emotional regulation of the stress response and de-escalation in school and classroom contexts.

• from a developmentally neurosequential perspective, designing and delivering curriculum that promotes academic performance, wellbeing and future pathways
• acknowledging trauma's impact on the body, on the stress response, and on learning; specifically, helping students to self-regulate to a heart rate of around 80 beats per minute
• offering opportunities throughout the day for students to elect individualised time to both co-regulate and self-regulate emotions, reactivity and impulses
• using rhythmic, predictable, and consistent timetables for lessons, weeks and the school year
• providing opportunities for mindful practice.

Domain 2 - RELATIONSHIP

Increasing relational capacities in staff and students through attachment and attunement principles with specific relationship strategies for difficult to engage young people.

• staff/student connections built on attachment principles of unconditional positive regard and positive emotion
• foundations of safety, tolerance and respect
• teaching social and emotional intelligence
• friendship and teamwork
• strategies to build lasting, strong relationships by increasing positivity rations within relationships.

Domain 3 - STAMINA

Creating a strong culture of independence for academic tasks by nurturing resilience and emotional intelligence.

• strategies to build emotional intelligence, personal resilience, frustration tolerance and self-regulation
• growing the stamina for attention and strategies for managing distraction
• structures to support group affiliation
• encouraging growth mindsets for academic learning and accomplishment
• developing passion for learning and the persistence to follow through.

Domain 4 - ENGAGEMENT

Employing engagement strategies that build willingness in struggling students.

• understanding the pathways to complete engagement through flow activities
• active engagement, including flexible timetabling, hands on activities and multiple learning modalities
• broadening, building and savouring positive emotions
• building motivation through healthy play and fun
• sparking curiosity and interest through real world application, vocational pathways, problem solving and investigation.

Domain 5 - CHARACTER

Harnessing a values and a character strengths approach to enable successful student self-knowledge which leads to empowered future pathways.

• helping students articulate their own values
• finding personal meaning in those values and extending that meaning to include others
• understanding self and others in the context of culture and community
• identifying personal strengths and practicing those strengths
• exploring strengths through stories, narratives, metaphors and heroes/paragons of particular strengths
• cultivating attunement through tolerance and respect for others' character strengths
• understanding and employing character strengths for future pathways.

Simon Brown

Head of Wellbeing