Supporting children's mental health during the pandemic and beyond – The Royal Children’s Hospital.

From Zoe & Anna-Marie, NMPS Wellbeing Team

On Wednesday 25th August, the Royal Children’s Hospital held a discussion with a panel of experts to discuss how we can support our children during this pandemic. Some of you may have already seen this - the Wellbeing team tuned in to the broadcast and it was viewed by over 3,000 people during the live feed, which to us shows that there is a great need for this content to be shared. The RCH has now linked this presentation on two platforms – Facebook and YouTube. You will find the links below.

From a personal level we found the discussion to be a great overview of the following topics:

Parental concerns for your child potentially falling behind at school.
School refusal/disengagement
Anxiety
The importance of structure and routine and sleep
Dealing with disappointment and uncertainty
The use of technology both positive and negative
Dealing with worries and concerns children have
How we can be creative and support kids to exercise when playgrounds are now shut
Exploring kindness /gratitude/giving - positive psychology
A parent/carer’s own mental health and wellbeing – parental fatigue and burnout
Managing conflict at home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1DizMUOeng

https://facebook.com/events/s/supporting-childrens-mental-he/882513409022337/

If you would also like some more information produced through the RCH the below page is a valuable resource and has multiple links for further exploration.

https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Supporting_your_child_to_cope_with_the_COVID-19_pandemic/

As always please feel free to reach out at any stage.

NMPS Wellbeing Community of Practice

We wanted to introduce ourselves as the newly formed NMPS Wellbeing Community of Practice. We are made up of Mark, Risa, Rachel, Sarah, Hugh, Ari, Jen, Nat, Jacquie, Kale, and Anna-Marie - representatives of each NMPS Professional Learning Team.

Our aim is to improve the wellbeing of our school community by being reflective, proactive, and flexible to the needs of the whole community through a variety of programs, processes, and supports. As a team we are working on:

Reinvigorating the Respectful Relationships curriculum and program, specific adaptations to NMPS and the needs of our students and community through further professional development and collaboration
Continued compliance, addressing of and understanding of the Child Safe Standards (CSS) of the Commission for Children and Young People
Training for staff on Mental Health First Aid through a DET Health and Wellbeing Grant
Communication of resources, updates, and supports to the wider school community
Exploring ‘BeYou’ partnerships
Creation of a Wellbeing Toolbox - website for all resources and increased communication with the school community

We look forward to continuing to work with our community to address the wellbeing needs of our students, staff, and parents.

Contact the Wellbeing Team

Anna-Marie Low: Anna-Marie.Low@education.vic.gov.au

Zoe Bourdon: zoe.bourdon@education.vic.gov.au

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