Mental Health & Wellbeing Students/Parents/Carers Support 

Mental Health and Wellbeing Update

 Nikki Olsen 

This week’s focus is on building positive mental health. Positive mental health helps children develop confidence, manage challenges, build healthy relationships, and fully engage in learning and school life.

Supporting Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing

At Ripponlea Primary School, student mental health and wellbeing is a strong focus. Mental health is not just about mental illness -it includes how children think, feel, cope, build relationships, learn, and manage everyday challenges. Research shows that positive wellbeing is strongly connected to learning, engagement, friendships, resilience, and school success.

Children’s wellbeing can change over time depending on factors such as friendships, learning challenges, family stress, sleep, neurodiversity, anxiety, confidence, or life events. Some students may appear outwardly distressed, while others may quietly internalise their worries and go unnoticed.

The Royal Children's Hospital report on ▶️Mental Health of children aged 8-13 yrs in Australia, conducted a survey in 2023 involving 2,113 parents and 1,525 children aged 8-13 years to assess the current state of children's mental health concerns in Australia. 

• 1 in 3 Australian children experience symptoms of a mental health concern• 1 in 6 children aged 8–13 experience symptoms of anxiety• 1 in 4 children report symptoms of depression

Many children experiencing emotional difficulties may not openly express how they are feeling.

Sometimes children communicate distress through behaviours such as:• emotional outbursts• withdrawal• perfectionism• avoidance• irritability• friendship difficulties• refusing work• negative self-talk• shutting down• stomach aches or headaches• difficulty concentrating

When children display challenging behaviours, it can be helpful for adults to shift from asking “What is wrong?” to “What might the child be trying to communicate?” This approach supports calm, supportive, and understanding responses.

At school, we use a proactive and strengths-based approach to wellbeing. 

This means:

• supporting positive mental health for all students

• building protective factors such as friendships, confidence, belonging, and emotional regulation

• explicitly teaching social and emotional skills, including help-seeking, problem-solving, and coping strategies

• creating safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environments where all students feel valued and connected

• strengthening positive relationships between students, staff, and families

• helping students develop resilience and the skills to navigate challenges and setbacks• promoting healthy habits that support wellbeing, such as sleep, physical activity, and positive social connections

• recognising concerns early and providing support before difficulties become more significant

• encouraging students to identify and use their strengths to support learning, wellbeing, and relationships

💡 This week helpful resource

What is mental health for children? 

Watch this with your child to help them understand mental health, emotions, and wellbeing in a simple and child-friendly way

▶️ Emerging Minds video for children on Mental Health and Wellbeing

Parent Strategies to Support Wellbeing at Home

Parents play an incredibly important role in supporting children’s emotional wellbeing. Some helpful strategies include:

• creating predictable routines and consistent boundaries

• prioritising sleep, physical activity, outdoor play, and reduced screen time• encouraging open conversations about feelings

• validating emotions rather than immediately trying to “fix” them• modelling calm coping strategies and positive self-talk

• helping children problem-solve rather than rescuing immediately• praising effort, persistence, kindness, and bravery rather than perfection

• encouraging friendships, connection, and participation in activities• practising calming strategies regularly such as belly breathing, mindfulness, movement breaks, or relaxation activities

• noticing early signs that your child may be feeling overwhelmed

Children often communicate emotions through behaviour before they can explain them with words. Staying calm, curious, and connected can make a significant difference.

Useful Supports for Families

▶️Smiling Mind – free mindfulness and breathing activities for children

▶️Raising Children Network – evidence-based parenting information. 

▶️Emerging Minds – resources focused on children’s mental health

▶️Beyond Blue and

▶️Headspace – mental health information and support.

If you have any concerns regarding your child’s wellbeing, please feel free to reach out and send me an email via the Ripponlea email. Working together collaboratively between home and school is one of the strongest protective factors for children’s mental health and wellbeing.

The Resilient Student: Why Grit Matters More Than Grades

How to help your child persevere when school gets tough. 

I’ve never a met a parent who doesn’t want their child to do well at school.

But sometimes their focus is wrong. 

It’s all about results, which isn’t the best indicator of success.

Doing well at school isn’t just about grades. 

True, long-lasting success is found in academic resilience, which empowers students to thrive despite challenges. 

When facing setbacks, the growth mindset for kids often wavers, leading to avoidance. 

“I’m not good at spelling, reading, or math’ often becomes their default reply, which helps them avoid taking learning risks. It also acts as a convenient defence mechanism to protect their self-esteem, but it severely restricts their potential. 

However, by intentionally teaching perseverance at home, you can transform these moments into learning opportunities.

The development of a resilient learner helps ensure long-term learning success- way beyond your child’s current classroom. 

It builds the emotional stamina necessary for life’s complexities. 

By implementing practical strategies for student success, you ensure your child not only navigates the school year but also gains the confidence to tackle any hurdle. 

You help them understand that intelligence is dynamic, not fixed, allowing them to view obstacles as temporary rather than permanent limitations.

This is why cultivating resilience is the most important gift you can give a primary-aged student; it builds the stamina they need to navigate not just the school year, but the complexities of life itself.

What is Resilience and Why Does It Matter?

Academic resilience is the capacity to maintain a positive, productive approach to learning, even when things become difficult. 

It isn’t about being tough or ignoring feelings of disappointment; it’s about having the emotional tools to work through difficult feelings and find a solution.

This is vital in the early years of primary school, when children begin to form their identities as learners. 

If they equate success only with being the smartest or the fastest, they will crumble the moment they encounter a task that doesn't come easily. 

As psychologist Carol Dweck famously noted:

"The view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value."

Resilience acts as a buffer against anxiety.  

It allows a child to stay engaged, ask for help, and ultimately, find satisfaction in the effort of learning, not just the result.

Shaping a Resilient Learner at Home

As a parent, you are the architect of your children's learning environment. Here are some ideas to help you shape the psychological environment that builds resilience needed for learning:

1. Praise the Process, Not the Talent

When your child brings home a great result, resist saying, "You’re so clever!" 

Instead, try, "I noticed how hard you worked on that draft," or "You really stuck with that math problem until you figured it out." By focusing on effort, you teach them that their hard work drives results rather than their natural ability.

2. Normalise the Struggle 

Don’t jump in to rescue your child the moment they feel frustrated. 

When they hit a wall, encourage them to sit with the struggle for a moment to build the tolerance required for deeper learning. 

This small pause allows their brain to switch from emotional reactivity to logical problem-solving.

3. Model Your Own Fails 

Children are acute observers of everything we do, including how we handle our own mistakes. Use this to your advantage to teach them how you approach challenges.

If you are struggling with a project, talk through your thought process aloud: "This is frustrating, but I’m going to take a break and try a different approach. First, I need to make a list, then……” Hearing you articulate your strategy gives them a roadmap to follow when they hit roadblocks.

4. Encourage “Yet” 

If your child says, "I can’t do this," add the word "yet” to the end of the sentence.

It’s a small linguistic shift that opens the door to growth and reframes the current challenge as a temporary hurdle rather than a permanent limitation. It’s also something you can try yourself, when you’re tempted to say in frustration, “I just can’t do this……. yet!”

5. Create a Supportive Debrief Ritual 

Instead of just asking, "How was your day?", ask, "What was the most challenging thing you encountered today, and what did you learn from it?" 

This regular check-in normalises the idea that challenges are a healthy, everyday part of learning and helps children develop the reflective capacity needed to overcome future obstacles.

Final thoughts

Building a resilient learner doesn't happen overnight; it is a gradual process of shifting focus from the destination to the journey. 

By normalising struggle, celebrating effort over innate ability, and encouraging self-leadership, you empower your children to face the academic world with confidence. 

The goal isn't to prevent your child from failing, but to ensure they have the courage and tools to bounce back stronger every single time.

© 2026 Michael Grose 

Three key tips about supporting children with anxiety. 

1. Reassurance feels kind, but it can keep anxiety alive.

When a child asks, “What if something bad happens?” and we immediately reassure them (“It won't, I promise”), they experience short-term relief. However, they may learn that the only way to feel okay is to get certainty from someone else. This can make worries return more often and more intensely.

Instead: Help children approach uncertainty with curiosity and problem-solving:

• What do we know?
• What don't we know?
• How could we cope if something difficult happened?

2. Avoidance makes anxiety grow.

When children avoid situations that feel scary or uncomfortable, their brain receives the message that the situation was dangerous. Over time, their world becomes smaller and activities that were once manageable can start to feel impossible.

Instead: Use gentle, supported, gradual exposure.

• Take small steps.
• Don't overwhelm the child.
• Help them discover that they can tolerate anxious feelings and come through them successfully.

3. Anxiety is a signal, not a threat.

Anxiety is the brain doing its job—scanning for danger and preparing the body to respond. The problem is not that the child is broken; rather, their alarm system is becoming overactive.

Instead: Help children ask:

"What is this anxiety trying to protect me from?"

The answer may be:

• Embarrassment
• Getting something wrong
• Being left out
• Being hurt
• Failing

When children can identify what the anxiety is guarding against, it becomes something they can think about and understand, rather than simply react to. This shift is where meaningful change begins.

In summary

1. Reduce excessive reassurance → build tolerance for uncertainty.
2. Reduce avoidance → use gradual exposure to feared situations.
3. Understand the message behind the anxiety → treat it as information, not danger.

These three principles align closely with evidence-based approaches used in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for childhood anxiety.

I hope you found the articles useful,

Nikki