Wellbeing & Engagement 

Curriculum Day - Professional Learning for Staff

Last week (Monday 22nd August), our staff participated in some important sessions focused on Staff Wellbeing. Our staff all put tremendous effort into creating safe and inclusive classrooms and do everything in their power to ensure the wellbeing of their students is a priority, however we don't often get many chances to slow down and put our own wellbeing first. 

Teaching is a profession built around empathy and putting others' first; so we felt it was crucial to take some time of the curriculum day to equip staff with strategies and ideas to look after themselves! 

A key word - Euthymia - was introduced to staff. Euthymia is the state of living without disturbances; striking the perfect life balance of calmness, tranquillity, positivity, energy, hope, emotional regulation and desire. 

This is a state of wellbeing that realistically, may be impossible for most to reach, however it is something we can strive towards if we take the time to look after ourselves.

We also explored a range of other wellbeing concepts, put different self-care strategies into practise, discussed wellbeing goal setting and also looked briefly at some Rangeview student wellbeing data. 

The Resilience Project

Parent and Carers: The Resilience Project has shared a great Mindfulness tool for our community - it's a simple activity and we would encourage you to have a go at completing this to do a 'self-care check in' to help you find a sense of balance in your life. Completing it with your children would be even better! We hope it will lead to some rich discussion around the importance of things like work/life balance, and provide you with an opportunity to reflect on your current situation and set wellbeing (and/or mindfulness) goals for the future.

Resilient Youth Survey Results:

Earlier this year, our Year 3-6 students participated in the Resilient Youth Survey, conducted by The Resilience Project (TRP). It was an extremely detailed survey that investigated our students' wellbeing in a wide range of different areas. The survey has been completed by over 60,000 students Australia-wide, which provides outstandingly reliable 'norm' data for comparisons.

Tania Balderston, Dani Anderson and myself met with Phoebe from TRP last week to analyse our results and there were some huge positives to take out of it. The impacts of COVID and the continued lockdowns over the past 2-3 years has been felt by all schools, and we are no different in this space. However compared to the Australian norm data, students at Rangeview, as a whole, are tracking very positively.

Some highlights for our students included:

• Positive relationships: The high majority of our students felt they had strong family support, had teachers who cared greatly about them, felt connected to school, and had close friends.
• Safety: Our students feel extremely safe at school, trust their local environment/community, and have experienced very low levels of bullying (compared to the Australian norms).
• Healthy Mind and Body: Overall, our students are slightly less anxious and worried, are getting more/higher quality sleep, and try their best to stay fit and active
• Learning Engagement: Compared to Australian norms, our students are putting in a stronger and more consistent effort at school, are highly engaged, and have more 'fun' at school.

In addition, the survey provides information about the levels of anxiety and disengagement, which are two significant mental health issues students are facing these days, given the impacts of the last 2-3 years. Once again, overall, our results are slightly better than the Australian norms, which is great. 

• 62% of our students are in the 'optimal' zone - they come to school ready to learn (compared to 56% Australia-wide).
• Only 11% are categorised as 'disengaged' (compared with 13% Australia-wide).
• 19% of our students are 'anxious' (compared to 20% Australia-wide), and;
• 8% of our students are categorised as 'anxious and disengaged' (compared with 11% Australia-wide)

However, it still provides us with opportunities to work with the students who have been identified as anxious and/or disengaged, and help them to rediscover positive mental health outcomes and improved engagement at school. As a school, we are working hard to ensure all students feel connected, supported and come to school happy.

Book Week Parade Day

Marika and Kate have both outlined some of the highlights from this day; I would like to reiterate the importance of these days from a different angle! Celebrating Book Week and the learning outcomes (such as the positives of reading!) is one part; the other is the additional engagement outcomes these events provide.

Seeing all of our students (and staff!) really get into the spirit of the day and dress up as their favourite literary characters was incredible. It's an important part of our school culture; these special days help set the tone for celebrations, inclusivity, students getting comfortable with being themselves, peer support and development of social skills/relationships (through Buddy Grade activities), and put simply - fun. These days are a lot of fun and everyone did a wonderful job across the day.

R U OK DAY - September 8th

Coming up in about a week is Australia's annual 'R U OKAY DAY'. A simple question like this can start a hugely valuable conversation that can change, or even save, a life. 

We will be encouraging students to check-in with others on this day; and we encourage all of our Rangeview families to use this day as an opportunity to check-in with loved ones or friends, and find out if others important to you are really okay. A simple question can go a long way to supporting the mental health of those around you.

Please take a look at the 'R U OKAY' website for further information and resources. 

Liam Sommers

Assistant Principal

Wellbeing and Engagement