Wellbeing
with Mrs Hodgson
Donvale Primary School
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A Quick Guide to Family Services in the Inner East
Supporting Families, Together
Every family experiences challenges from time to time, and it's important to know that support is available. Here is some information about services and resources that can help families navigate life's ups and downs. We hope this information provides reassurance, increases awareness of available supports, and encourages families to reach out if they ever need a helping hand.
What is Family Services?
Family Services is a free, voluntary outreach service available to support children and families experiencing vulnerability. They work confidentially alongside families to assist and support them to achieve their goals. This includes building skills and establishing resources needed to promote the ongoing safety, stability and development of children.
Family Services can usually work with a family for up to 6 months working on goals together to empower and support change.
How do I access family Services?
Family Services sits at the following services:
Intake for all of these services is through one intake hub. This intake hub is called The Orange Door and this organisation can be contacted Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm and is contactable in our area on this number: 1800 354 322.
Someone else can support you in putting in the referral including the school, however as family services is a voluntary program, The Orange Door will want to speak with the families to get some background information to complete the referral, so they know they are linking you with the right supports for your family.
What is The Orange Door?
The Orange Door is an intake Service that works on promoting safety and wellbeing. It is the intake service for Family Services as well as Family violence services.
We have noticed that sometimes there is confusion or a view that it is only for those experiencing family violence, which is not true. You do not need to be experiencing family violence to utilise the orange door. It was developed to bring multiple services together as a partnership so that individuals and families don’t have to go to multiple services or to retell their story multiple times to have their needs met. One of those multiple services is Family Services where you can get parenting supports.
If you would like more information about The Orange Door please refer to the following information.
Free Australian resources provide practical strategies and advice for supporting children's mental health and wellbeing:
- Be You – Evidence-based information for families on children's mental health, resilience and emotional wellbeing.
- Raising Children Network – Expert parenting advice on managing anxiety, stress, emotions, friendships and building resilience.
- Kids Helpline – Resources for children, young people and parents, plus free counselling for children aged 5–25.
- Beyond Blue – Practical information to help families understand anxiety, stress and mental health.
- Smiling Mind – Free mindfulness activities and guided meditations suitable for children and families.
- The Resilience Project – Simple wellbeing strategies focused on gratitude, empathy and mindfulness that families can practise together.
Useful Websites:
Looking after your child's mental health:
Easing into Adolescence
The Department of Education has launched an Easing into
adolescence webpage for families of students aged 10 to 14 (Grade 5 to Year 8).
The webpage has information and strategies you can use to help ease your child into adolescence and secondary school. These include:
- a guide to emotion coaching. Staff from The University of Melbourne’s Tuning in to Teens Kids program developed the guidance.
- how to support your adolescent with their studies and more generally. Parenting expert and clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller helped develop this resource.
Subtitles for videos by The University of Melbourne on the webpage are available in 10 languages. You can select your preferred language on the translations page.
Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Supports
Reward System
SWPBS focuses on multi-tiered interventions to promote positive behaviours. As part of the approach to enabling a strong school culture which embodies our school values, we have put in place a whole school sticker rewards system.
Aim of the Reward System
At DPS we have implemented a reward system to reward positive behaviours that are necessary for promoting a positive and supportive school environment. These positive behaviours are based on our four values of Compassion, Resilience, Respect and Responsibility. Part of our reward system includes the handing out of stickers which are distributed by staff when the students are "caught" displaying one or more of the values.
