Student Wellbeing

CHILD SAFETY AND WELLBEING INFORMATION FOR FAMILIES

The Victorian Government has announced new Child Safe Standards to further strengthen child safety across organisations, including schools. The new standards recognise the critical importance of families and the broader school community in maintaining and promoting child safety and wellbeing. 

Courtenay Gardens Primary School has reviewed and updated our child safety policies and procedures to ensure they meet the requirements of the new standards. These are available to view on our school website (link below) under the parents tab. 

Courtenay Gardens Primary School (cgps.vic.edu.au)

We are committed to continuous improvement in our approach to child safety and wellbeing and welcome feedback from families and members of our school community on ways we can further strengthen our child safety policies, procedures and practices. 

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please contact the school principal via the school email or Compass message.

courtenay.gardens.ps@education.vic.gov.au

CHILDRENS' EMOTIONS

When children are experiencing big emotions, they often need us to step in and help them to calm the torrential storm.

When a child feels safe with you, they are able to lower their defenses and truly give voice to the feelings inside. Children learn that they will be held and unconditionally loved as they experience all the different facets of life. 

If a child does not feel safe and learns that only certain emotions are acceptable, the more difficult emotions are stuffed down. These children struggle with feeling psychologically safe and end up disconnecting from the most vulnerable parts of themselves. Research now shows us that emotional constriction can lead to a host of psychological and physical issues that persist throughout the lifespan. 

It is important to remember that guiding your child through emotional experiences does not mean parenting without limits. We can honour feelings and have clear, consistent boundaries with our children. Children who do not have boundaries often feel unanchored, and unsafe with a pervasive underlying theme of not being cared for.

The language we use with our children becomes their inner voice. As the adults in a child’s world, we play a pivotal role indetermining how a child perceives themselves and others. It can be tricky in those tumultuous moments to remember what to say  particularly if we are having a hard time calming our own heart rate and breathing!