Welcome to 2026

Hello, I'd like to welcome our returning and new families to LPS and the Wellbeing section of our newsletter.

Here you will find different items as they arise such as opportunities to join workshops on a range of different wellbeing topics/areas of interest that may support your family or friends, celebrating events at our school, information and resources you may like to participate in or be aware of and all things wellbeing.

My role at LPS- I am the Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) Leader and Disability Inclusion Coordinator. I aim to support all students, staff and families however, as one person, I rely on parents and carers to communicate with their child's teacher (first point of contact) and myself in order to work as a team to help identify and provide school based support. I can't provide direct service such as counselling for students/families but I can point you in the right direction, including accessing Student Support Services (DET), foodbank, uniforms, mental health resources and some allied health connections. I also work with teachers and education support staff to implement, build knowledge and explicitly teach evidence based wellbeing practices (please see below). If you have any questions please call in and see me. Thanks, Kirsty 🐘

Upcoming workshop-Bendigo

Learn more about the children’s brain and emotional development. The Connecting with Kids workshop helps parents and carers learn how to use emotional intelligence to understand and guide children’s behaviour.

Tuesday, 17 February 2026

1.30pm – 3pm

Bendigo Library 259 Hargreaves St, Bendigo VIC 3550

Register at:

2026 LPS Wellbeing Curriculum

During term 4 last year we redesigned our wellbeing scope and sequence teaching and learning documentation including recently updated Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) resources.

Alongside RRRR we teach and embed strategies from the Berry Street Education Model, Prep – 2 Kimochi Early Childhood Learning, Years 3-6 The Resilience Project. All year levels explicitly learn and practice the Kimochis Keys to Communication and participate in E-safety education.

All wellbeing sessions will be taught by classroom teachers during the week and strategies and skills learnt are practiced and modelled throughout all teaching and learning sessions. Wellbeing sessions times during the week vary and change depending on what else is going on during the week in classrooms.

Term 1 our focus for wellbeing sessions will be:

LPS Start Right program – unpacking our school values, creating school routines such as the morning yarning circle, expectations and practicing School Wide Positive Behaviour expectations such as lining up, assembly, playing in different areas of the school, peaceful place, school boundaries, classroom expectations, what does it mean to be a part of a team, looking after our belongings and lots more. The Start Right program aims to set all students up for learning and wellbeing success providing a safe and predictable school environment.

The Start Right program will be revisited for the first week of each term for teachers to reteach/revisit areas of need for each class and individual students.

RRRR topics – Term 1

Emotional Literacy - Emotional literacy can be defined as the ability to understand ourselves and other people. It includes the ability to understand, express and manage our own emotions, build empathy, and to respond appropriately to the emotions of others. Building a large vocabulary for emotions helps to increase emotional literacy and build self-awareness and empathy for others. (The Kimochis program for years P-2 is an evidence based successful program for our youngest students to learn about emotional literacy).

Personal Strengths - Children and young people need a vocabulary to help them recognise and understand strengths and positive qualities in themselves and others.

All wellbeing lessons are age appropriate whilst covering the same topics across the school.

Each week in parent/carer Sunday reminders, teachers will inform you of what will be covered in wellbeing in the upcoming week.

I encourage you to reach out to your child’s teacher for any further information or perhaps you would like some extra resources to use at home. I can also help with this so please let me know.

Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships background information

The Royal Commission into Family Violence identified the critical role that schools and early childhood education have in creating a culture of respect to change the story of family violence for future generations.

In 2016, respectful relationships education became a core component of the Victorian Curriculum from foundation to year 12 and is taught in all government and Catholic schools and many independent schools.

Everyone in our community deserves to be respected, valued and treated equally. We know that changes in attitudes and behaviours can be achieved when positive attitudes, behaviours and equality are embedded in our education settings.

Respectful Relationships is about embedding a culture of respect and equality across our entire community, from our classrooms to staffrooms, sporting fields, and school social events. This approach leads to positive impacts on student’s academic outcomes, their mental health, classroom behaviour, and relationships between teachers and students.

The Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships teaching and learning materials were developed by leading education experts, who have tailored the materials to each year level from Foundation to year 12 and made sure all information is age-appropriate and grounded in evidence. The Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships teaching and learning materials have been developed by experts from the University of Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education, based on evidence from reputable research bodies and leading authorities including:

UNICEF
VicHealth
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing
UNESCO

Respectful relationships education is about building positive relationships for all young people. In RRRR and all wellbeing lessons students are given the opportunity to explore emotions and develop non-violent problem-solving strategies. Primary school students are supported to learn new skills to build their confidence and resilience.

There are 8 RRRR topics

Emotional Literacy
Personal Strengths
Positive Coping
Problem Solving
Stress Management
Help Seeking
Gender and Identity
Positive Gender Relationships
During 2026 at LPS we will be covering topics 1-6.

Out and About at LPS

Last year this space evolved and has become quite a favourite of our students, especially when out in the yard as we spot great examples of play, friendship, fun, skills, tricks and more!

Random Acts of Kindness Day

Tuesday 17th February is Random Acts of Kindness Day which is a day dedicated to promoting kindness and goodwill. It encourages individuals to perform simple, unexpected acts of kindness to brighten someone’s day and create a ripple effect of positivity. It’s a day to celebrate the power of kindness and compassion. Random Acts of Kindness Day is a reminder that small gestures of kindness have the power to change the world. By spreading love and positivity, we can create a more compassionate and caring society.

Our Year 6 Breakfast Club Leaders have decided that Breakfast Club on Wednesday 18th Feb will be themed around kindness in recognition of this day. Everyone is welcome to join us in the picnic area from 8:40am. If you've had breakfast but just want to chat, need a top up or didn't have time, come by... we'll have fruit, cheerios and milk. 🍎🥭

Student Awards