Editorial

During the recent Term 2 work break, all primary and secondary teachers at MECS engaged in a full day of training in the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM), which aims to support students in being resilient, regulated, and connected with their school and their learning. Rather than a wellbeing program that is explicitly taught each week, the BSEM aims to be integrated into everyday life within MECS. This training was the first of four training days that will take place over the next two years, and the staff who attended were excited to see how adopting many of the practices and principles can enhance student engagement, connection and learning. Over the next few weeks, MECS will be prayerfully considering how to best incorporate the BSEM into MECS, and what the priority areas will be.  

In this article, we’ll consider how the BSEM fits within a Christian school like MECS and what it might look like for your child.  

1. Morning check-in or circle time. One of the foundations of the BSEM is a time to check in each morning and sometimes at the end of the day. This will look different depending on the year level and class your child is in, but the principle of ensuring each student is seen, known, and valued is consistent and aligns with our Christian worldview, which begins each day by reminding students that they are known and valued by God, the classroom and the school community.  

2. Ready to learn is a practical and powerful concept in the BSEM. It recognises that students can struggle to learn if their bodies, brains and emotions are not sufficiently regulated to engage in learning. Staff support students in recognising their own readiness to learn and in actively improving it. As parents, this is an area you can support by helping your child get adequate sleep, balancing screen and non-screen time, and encouraging them to take responsibility for their own learning, including attempting aspects of school life that they find challenging.  

3. Co-regulation and seeing behaviours as a form of communication. To learn effectively, students need to be in a place where they are regulated and calm. Staff at MECS aim to reflect Christ’s consistency, gentleness and calm when supporting students who may be facing additional challenges or barriers. We recognise that behaviours are often a form of communicating a need or dysregulation and respond with discernment and compassion while still holding boundaries, particularly where behaviours may impact on others' learning.  

Overall, the Berry Street model reinforces the importance of loving God and loving others. It supports a restorative approach to repairing relationships when harm is caused, as students learn to take responsibility for any harm, the importance of forgiveness, and how to make things right. We increasingly recognise the importance of the connection between students and between students and teachers in improving regulation, behaviour and learning. The training was a timely reminder that we are all shaped through loving relationships, as highlighted in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Encourage one another and build each other up.” 

From our first day of Berry Street training, we gained knowledge and insight into some additional tools and strategies, but our faith in Jesus gives the why: 

• We regulate because self-control matters.  
• We restore because grace and relationships matter.  
• We build belonging because every child is created in God’s image and relationships matter.  

• We set boundaries because we value the importance of truth.  

   

One helpful way to understand how BSEM and Christian education work together is to see BSEM as providing practical strategies that help create safe, connected, and well-regulated learning environments, while Christian teaching offers the deeper foundation of identity, truth, grace, and purpose. We look forward to building on our BSEM training over the next two years and continuing to partner with you and your children as we seek to support and strengthen learning at MECS. 

Danny Gamble

Deputy Head of Primary/Wellbeing Coordinator