Wellbeing News

Day for Daniel - Friday 31 October 

Together, We’re Keeping Kids Safe

Day for Daniel is Australia’s largest child safety education and awareness day, providing valuable opportunities for students from Prep to Year 9 to learn about personal safety.

This special day honours the memory of Daniel Morcombe and reinforces the vital message that keeping kids safe is a responsibility we all share—parents, carers, educators, businesses…the entire community.

St John’s students will be asked to wear a touch of red and bring a gold coin donation on Friday 31 Oct to contribute to the ongoing cause of keeping our kids safe. 

Daniel Morcombe was a 13 year old boy, living with his parents and brothers in the town of Palmwoods on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, who was last seen wearing a red tshirt. The key message of the day encourages children to Recognise, React and Report unsafe situations, helping them build the knowledge and confidence to protect themselves and others. The activities and resources for Day for Daniel align closely with the Victorian Curriculum, particularly within Respectful Relationships education and the Personal and Social Capability strand, supporting students to develop awareness, resilience and help-seeking strategies. This event is a meaningful way to promote child safety and empower students to make safe and respectful choices.

During this week and on Day for Daniel, the St John's students will learn about the 3 Rs of safety, including creating their own safety network of who they turn to when they feel unsafe.

https://danielmorcombe.com.au/day-for-daniel/ 

AFLW Game - Sunday 26 October 

This Sunday 26 October, a selected group of Year 3/4 students will be in the guard of honour at the AFLW game Carlton vs GWS at ICON Park, as the players run out, as well as completing a half time dash!

After taking part in the Road to Respects program in Term 3, the 3/4 students were invited to create posters to show what they learnt about stereotypes, respect and differences. Their posters will be displayed at the stadium! 

There are still tickets available via this link using the code ‘AFLW25COMMUNITY’ if additional friends and family want to attend. There is a 6-ticket limit per transaction, but this process can be repeated as you need! 

Better Buddies Day Term 4 - Friday 7 November

This term we will hold a Better Buddies Day morning on Friday 7 November where the students will learn about the Better Buddies Values, as well as reviewing our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) Behaviours. The students will work with different teachers and students from other year levels to focus on how we can be SAFE, RESPECTFUL and VALUE DIFFERENCES. 

Students are invited to wear a touch of purple and bring their favourite soft toy as a symbol of Buddy Bear (as seen below).

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL)

The students are currently learning the PBL Value of Learn “I use strategies to manage my emotions”  from our Expected Behaviour Matrix. This focus helps students understand that as learners at St John’s, it’s important to have a “toolbox” of strategies to use when experiencing different emotions. Everyone feels big emotions at times and part of being a learner is taking responsibility for using these strategies to manage them effectively.

Students have been exploring a range of emotions and identifying strategies they can include in their personal toolkit to help them respond calmly and positively in different situations.

Responding to and Supporting Unexpected Behaviours

As part of our PBL journey, students are continually supported to demonstrate our school-wide expectations: to be Safe, Respectful, and Learners. When students need extra support, teachers follow our school Behaviour Flowchart (shown below). This process ensures that we respond to behaviours consistently while also teaching and reinforcing the expected values.

At St John’s, we use accurate data to guide all aspects of student learning, including behaviour learning. Teachers collect data both in classrooms and in the yard to help us identify how best to support each student’s individual needs.

If additional support is required, your child’s classroom teacher will contact you to discuss the strategies being implemented to help your child demonstrate the expected behaviours, as well as ways you can support your child to learn these values.