Student Wellbeing
SUPPORTING OUR STUDENTS MENTAL HEALTH
At St Helena’s Catholic Primary School, we believe that learning and wellbeing go hand in hand. A child’s ability to focus, build friendships, and engage positively in the classroom is deeply connected to their mental health and emotional wellbeing. By nurturing these skills early, we help set our students up for success not just academically, but in all areas of life.
Mental health is about how children think, feel, and act. It influences how they cope with challenges, manage emotions, and form relationships with others. Just like physical health, mental health needs care and attention. Children who feel safe, supported, and understood are more confident learners and are better equipped to navigate the ups and downs of everyday life.
In today’s fast paced and ever-changing world, it is more important than ever to explicitly teach children skills such as emotional awareness, resilience, empathy, and problem solving. These skills don’t always come naturally they need to be modelled, practised, and reinforced both at school and at home.
The Kimochis program plays a key role in our classrooms, in helping the development of student’s emotions, building strong relationships and developing healthy communication skills.
Through engaging lessons, storytelling, and the use of playful characters, students learn to:
Recognise and name their feelings
Develop empathy and understand others’ perspectives
Use positive communication strategies
Manage conflict in respectful ways
Build resilience and confidence
The Kimochis language encourages children to be “kind, calm, safe, and respectful,” and provides them with simple tools they can use every day whether they are working through a disagreement with a peer or managing a tricky emotion.
As a school community, we are committed to creating an environment where every child feels valued, supported, and heard. Families play an important role in this journey. You can support your child’s wellbeing by:
Talking openly about feelings
Listening without judgment
Encouraging problem-solving rather than fixing everything for them
Modelling calm and respectful communication
Families are encouraged to continue these conversations at home by using the Kimochis feelings chart as a simple way to support children in sharing and talking about their emotions.
