Student Wellbeing
SWAT PARENT REPRESENTATIVES
We are inviting both parents and students to join our School Wellbeing Action Team. SWAT aims to work together as a combined group of interested wellbeing warriors consisting of parents, teachers, support staff and students to collectively work towards improving the wellbeing of the school community. Many of the school projects and initiatives have come about over the past two years as a result of the work we have done, including FFF (Fun Food Fridays), linemarking around the school, the opening of the tiered grass area, lunchtime clubs and competitions, Family Nights, Parent Education Nights, Social and Emotional Program Development and many other wellbeing initiatives.
If you have the time on a Friday from 9.10-10.00am we would love to have you join our team. The SWAT meet once or twice per term. Please email Jenny Todd (see email) if you are interested.
The Let's TALK Program comes to St Joseph's School
An evidence-based program creating safe environments in schools to learn, contribute and achieve!
Why Let's TALK?
To prevent the escalation of mental health conditions by ‘letting everyone talk safely’
The Let’s TALK Program is about letting everyone talk safely by cultivating an environment of psychological safety across the whole school community. Psychological safety is a key foundation for learning and providing student agency. Without psychological safety our relationships, resilience and results can be compromised. Let’s TALK is an evidence based preventative and early intervention approach approved by psychologists.
A Randomised Control Trial comparing control groups with schools that implemented The Let's TALK Program showed significant improvement in students feeling 'protected, supported and encouraged'.
There were also significant improvements in 'student comfort in help seeking, support from teachers and student wellbeing'.
School Closure Day yesterday
Yesterday, the staff of St Joseph's received professional development training and mentoring on the Let's TALK Program by founder and CEO, Jetha Devapura, with the aim of empowering opur staff with the skills and confidence to have caring and compassionate conversations with students and staff who are struggling emotionally.
The program also trains students from Years 3 upwards on the ‘TALK’ Framework and on the importance of being ‘seen, heard and valued’. A select number of students from participating year levels will then become Let's TALK Buddies forming a robust student peer support network backed by the Staff Mentors.
Let’s TALK offers us a suite of resources such as the Student ‘Kindness’ Journals and Diaries, which we have purchased for use with all Years 3-6 Students, Communication and Classroom Boards (see below) and continuous learning through The Let’s TALK Student Podcasts and activities.
The Program is a 12 month engagement designed to be sustained and ensure that being seen, heard and valued becomes part of the school culture. What is the Let’s TALK Schools Program? We are living in an increasingly digital world where children benefit from the convenience of technology. However, this shift often comes at the cost of developing fundamental and crucial skills such as making and sustaining friendships, emotional literacy and help seeking. As a school community, it is our responsibility to nurture an environment of psychological safety for our children to develop these skills, so they can learn, contribute and achieve.
With youth mental health concerns on the rise, the Let's TALK Program provides a practical approach to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary for safe and supportive conversations. What distinguishes the Let's TALK Program is its inclusive approach that engages the entire school. This involves training teachers as Mentors and students as Buddies, as we believe that modelling compassionate conversations and behaviour, is the most effective and practical way to foster and promote self-awareness, and the ability to manage emotions and relationships effectively. The purpose of The Let’sTALK Program is letting everyone at schools feel Seen, Heard and Valued, a fundamental requirement for wellbeing and performance.
There is overwhelming evidence that expressing our concerns and seeking support from someone we can trust can improve relationships and our sense of connectedness. Sharing our concerns in this way builds resilience to overcome problems, confidence to face future challenges, and improves our overall self worth.
Looking forward to putting into practice what we have learnt as a staff from Jetha on Tuesday!
Kind regards,
Jenny Todd
(Student Wellbeing Leader)