Feeling well, functioning well and feeling connected: Whole School Wellbeing Masterclass

By Mr Steve Forbes-Taber

Last week our Wellbeing Leadership Team attended our second masterclass, this time in Manly, as part of our work heading up our Whole-School Wellbeing Program. The program is run by the AIS and is aimed at reviewing, refining, and strengthening our school’s approach to wellbeing, for the positive benefit of the whole school community (students, staff, parents, community etc).

Our team consists of College Counsellor Mr Geoff McLean, Head of Primary School Mrs Alesha Alcorn, Head of Secondary School Ms Catherine Clarke, Primary teacher Ms Katie Clisdell and myself representing secondary. The team is overseen by our Principal Mrs Lisa Dumicich and we have our own AIS consultant who supports the participation and implementation of the wellbeing program.

We have been finding that our College is doing some amazing things already in the wellbeing space, and so this is a chance to acknowledge, continue and support these initiatives while also strengthening and being even more deliberate with our wellbeing strategies for staff and students.

The program is NESA-accredited and heavily focused on evidence-based research. We are one of fifteen private and independent schools across the state participating, in 2024 we are the only one from the Riverina region. The program goes for 12 months, involving the leadership team attending four masterclasses and working together regularly with our consultant, followed up with professional learning workshops with all staff.

We are currently working on finalising our school’s wellbeing definition, a statement that will sit alongside our values and drive culture in the College. We are also working on explicitly defining our multi-tiered system of support for academic and wellbeing care for all students to improve referral processes and determine the best-targeted support as needs arise.

This is an initiative to be proud of as we continue to be proactive about wellbeing, focusing attention on the crucial relationship between positive wellbeing and the ability to engage, learn and grow (academically, socially spiritually and personally).

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