Climate and Culture- Social Emotional Wellbeing

Communicating with the SWPBL Climate and Culture Team

If you have any questions relating to our SWPBL framework, please email:

Llewela Humphries: llewela.humphries@education.vic.gov.au

Stacey Bowles: stacey.bowles@education.vic.gov.au

Damien Kitch: damien.kitch@education.vic.gov.au

What will you find on this page in Issue 5?

Gotcha's: What are they and what does it mean when my child gets one?

Gotcha!

In School Wide Positive Behaviours for Learning (SWPBL), a major focus is recognising and acknowledging positive behaviours in the classroom and in the school yard. At Upwey South Primary School, our whole school recognition system is a "Gotcha".

Who gets a Gotcha?

A Gotcha can be awarded by any teacher at any time. Most often, a Gotcha will be awarded by a classroom or specialist teacher during class for showing positive learning behaviours.

How does my child get a Gotcha?

Gotcha's are awarded for a variety of positive learning behaviours in the classroom including displaying the school values, working hard on a task, helping another student or teacher, using the school diary or achieving a personal goal. 

Across the school, Gotcha's may be awarded for:

• Assisting someone in need 
• Picking up rubbish in the classroom
• Showing kindness to classmates
• Demonstrating the school values

What happens when a 'Gotcha' is awarded?

When a teacher gives a student a 'Gotcha', they enter this on our school communication system 'Compass'. Compass will then send a notification to you (the parent) and Mr Kitch. When you open the notification, you will be able to see what your child has been awarded for. The purpose of notifying you (the parent) is to spark a conversation with your child about their day, and give recognition to the fantastic thing your child did. 

We encourage you to purposely recognise and praise your child.

Recess Clubs

Recess clubs continue to be a popular recess alternative for students in each year level. Below is the schedule of recess clubs. 

Yarra Valley Psychology is partnering with our school!

We are pleased to share with you that our school has secured a partnership with Yarra Valley Psychology (YVP) Services (https://yvp.com.au/), with the aim of providing in-school counselling services to students. 

Throughout schools across Victoria, student counselling is a much needed (and under resourced) service. Many of our families are currently experiencing first-hand the difficulties associated with trying to gain access to support services for their children. Therefore, we must be grateful that we have been presented with the opportunity to enter a partnership with YVP, as the resources do not exist for this partnership to occur across schools within our region. 

Please be aware of the information below:

Is there a cost involved to access the service, and does my child require a Mental Health Plan?

There is no cost involved for the family. 

Your child does not require a Mental Health Plan to access the service. This is due to the fact that the counselling sessions will be delivered by a Masters of Counselling practitioner, who is under the direct supervision of Yarra Valley Psychology (YVP) Services. 

There is also no limit on the number of sessions a child may access. Access to sessions, and duration (in weeks) will be determined between YVP, the school, and the parent/carer. 

When do sessions commence, and how will they be structured?

Sessions will commence from the beginning of Term Two, with student-needs being prioritized in partnership with the school and YVP. Prior to any child commencing, a confidential discussion will take place between the YVP counsellor and the parent/carer. 

Our school has been allocated a male counsellor who will conduct sessions each Wednesday for the entire duration of Term Two and Term Three. 

The counsellor will have the time allocation to see up to five students per day, with each session being allocated 50 minutes. At this stage sessions will be occurring each Wednesday. 

Will each child who is referred be able to access the service?

Unfortunately, this is not achievable within the current mental health environment. Referrals will be prioritized on a needs basis from within our own school cohort. 

If I wish for my child to access the service, what do I need to do?

Please complete the referral form below and return it via the instructions on the form.