Climate and Culture- Social Emotional Wellbeing
Upwey South Primary School
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 7?
Ready to Learn Plans and Let'sTALK Buddy Program
Ready to Learn Plans
A Ready to Learn plan is a pre-arranged deal between a student and teacher to provide a student with de-escalating and self-regulating strategies. The purpose of a Ready to Learn plan is to assist students to move through the Zones of Regulation, and to be in the optimal zone for learning.
Across the school, the Zones of Regulation are taught in increasing detail as students mature. Students are taught that they learn best in the "green" zone. This is where they are "Ready to Learn". At the beginning of the year, teaching focuses on:
- identifying the zones
- identifying how you feel in each zone (this may vary from student to student)
Once students understand the zones, teaching then focuses on exploring various de-escalation or "calm down" strategies. Students are encouraged to try them all to find what works best for them.
At this point, students are ready to create their "Ready to Learn" plan. The students identify how they feel in each zone, and the strategies they will use to move through the zones. These Ready to Learn plans can then be used each time a student is not in the "green" zone, and teachers will prompt the students to look at their ready to learn plan and choose a strategy to change zones.
Let'sTALK Buddy Program
On Tuesday 7th June and Wednesday 15th June, our school captains, SWPBL captains and Years 3 - 6 Junior School Council Representatives participated in the Let'sTALK Buddy Training sessions. Let’sTALK Buddies are supported and guided by the Let’sTALK Mentors (staff). A Let'sTALK buddy will be available to talk, support provide an empathetic and midnful interest in the wellbeing of their peers. The Let'sTALK buddies will be on a roster and be available during recess breaks; wearing a vest and lanyard to be easily identifiable by student's in the yard.
During the training students were introduced to the program, how it runs, what is required to be a Let'sTALK buddy and completed role playing activities to prepare them to be a buddy.
The Let'sTALK buddy program will launch on Monday 25th July. We look forward to seeing this program in action.
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.