WELLBEING

Dear Families,

Welcome back! A big welcome to our new Eastie families! I hope everyone has had a refreshing break and your start to 2024 has been positive. It has been wonderful to see both new and old faces settling into the school and routines.

I am excited to continue in the role as Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader (MHWL) at East for another year!

For those new to the school, my role is part of the Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) initiative conducted by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne. Over the past 2 years, I have undertaken an extensive amount of training and collaboration with other MHWL’s to learn about this new and exciting role and how to provide the best support for our East families and staff, which will continue this year. 

As a whole, my role is to:

1. promote a whole school approach to Mental Health and Wellbeing
2. support students, families, and school staff in the areas of Wellbeing and Mental Health

While my role is extensive, some of the ways I can help your family include:

• providing support for families and school staff to identify concerns in students
• support and coordinate referrals - within the school as well as link to external community-based services for students with mental health and wellbeing concerns.
• Coordinate the implementation of individualised support for students with mental health and wellbeing concerns – liaising with staff, the family, student and external services, if applicable, to follow up and ensure the child’s needs are being met
• Advocate for student voice in their mental health and wellbeing needs
• Provide assistance for families to link in with additional supports – this maybe during times of hardship, family trauma, parenting skills etc.

Navigating supports can be tricky at times and even knowing where to start can be overwhelming. We all need help at times in life and there is never any shame in asking for some.

I will again be teaching Wellbeing, as a part of our exciting specialist program, throughout the year across all year levels. We will continue to focus on understanding how the brain works, emotional regulation and cybersafety.

If you would like to chat, have concerns about your child/ren or would like some support for yourself or family, I can be contacted by phoning the school or via email Nicole.Chalmers@education.vic.gov.au. I do work part-time but will always return your calls/messages as soon as possible.

Nicki Chalmers

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader