Wellbeing News

PBL: A Whole-School Foundation for Wellbeing and Mental Health

Our ongoing dedication to Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) remains central to how we foster a positive environment for student wellbeing. When school life is structured and expectations are clear, children feel far more secure. This consistency eliminates daily guesswork, lowers stress, and frees up students to focus on learning and enjoying their friendships.

As part of this work, our active PBL expectation is: "I use strategies to manage my own emotions." Being a learner at St John’s means learning how to handle big feelings responsibly using a helpful set of personal strategies. We’d love for you to support this work at home by practising these calming and management techniques with your child!

To help reinforce our school-wide PBL focus—"I use strategies to manage my own emotions"—we encourage families to practise these self-regulation tools at home! 

You can help your child build their emotional "toolbox" by trying simple techniques together when big feelings arise, such as taking deep "5-finger breaths," taking a quick movement break, or using a "1 to 5" scale to figure out how big a problem really is. 

Setting up a cozy "calm corner" at home with books or drawing supplies also gives children a safe, positive space to reset. 

Most importantly, modeling these strategies yourself—like taking a slow breath when you feel stressed—shows your child that managing emotions is a lifelong skill we can all work on together!