What is good mental health and wellbeing?

This fortnight I'm sharing some information from the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH). They talk about what good mental and wellbeing for infants, children and young people involves:

having a positive outlook
developing and having good self-esteem
being able to play, learn, be social with others, manage feelings and responses in a range of situations
having healthy relationships and close bonds with family and friends.

The RCH says that there are times, however, when you might worry about your child’s feelings or behaviour. If this lasts long enough to interfere with your child’s everyday life, the RCH suggests it could be a sign of a more serious problem that needs a follow-up from a healthcare professional. As a parent or carer, if you have these concerns, please see if these concerns are happening at school, and then make a decision to get some professional advice.

What to expect from children 5-11 years of age:

For more information you can visit the Royal Children's Hospital website for more information:

https://www.rch.org.au/mental-health/for_parents_and_carers/

Lunchtime Clubs:

Our Lunchtime Clubs are being enjoyed by many students. Run Club has been a huge success with over 100 students running laps of the oval on a Friday morning . The students have already run a combined distance of 215km

Cubs Club had it's first meeting of the year this week with some familiar faces back for more fun, along with some new students keen to be a part of this great initiative.

The wellbeing hub has become the place to be during the afternoon recess break on a Tuesday-Thursday.

Education Sessions

Raising Sensitive Kids - A free webinar on how to support your sensitive child to thrive

Thursday 26th March 12pm & 8.30pm

https://raisingconnectedkids.com.au/free-webinar-sensitivity/

You will learn:

Why sensitivity isn’t the problem and how sensitivity is a strength (when supported correctly)
The four foundational areas sensitive kids must learn (but aren’t taught at school)
The common patterns that unintentionally makes anxiety and self-doubt worse – even when you’re trying your best
Determine whether your child needs emotional support.
Practical ways to help your child feel calmer, more confident, and socially secure

Useful Websites:

Looking after your child's mental health:

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/parents/family-health/your-childs-mental-health-advice.pdf

Easing into Adolescence

The Department of Education has launched an Easing into

adolescence webpage for families of students aged 10 to 14 (Grade 5 to Year 8).

The webpage has information and strategies you can use to help ease your child into adolescence and secondary school. These include:

a guide to emotion coaching. Staff from The University of Melbourne’s Tuning in to Teens Kids program developed the guidance.
how to support your adolescent with their studies and more generally. Parenting expert and clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller helped develop this resource.

Subtitles for videos by The University of Melbourne on the webpage are available in 10 languages. You can select your preferred language on the translations page.

Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Supports

Reward System

SWPBS focuses on multi-tiered interventions to promote positive behaviours. As part of the approach to enabling a strong school culture which embodies our school values, we have put in place a whole school sticker rewards system.

Aim of the Reward System

At DPS we have implemented a reward system to reward positive behaviours that are necessary for promoting a positive and supportive school environment. These positive behaviours are based on our four values of Compassion, Resilience, Respect and Responsibility. Part of our reward system includes the handing out of stickers which are distributed by staff when the students are "caught" displaying one or more of the values.

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