Wellbeing and Inclusion

Student Support Group Meetings (SSG's)

If you recently received an email to book in an SSG meeting to review your child/ren’s goals for Term 1, please log onto Compass to make a booking. SSG’s will be conducted from the 20th to the 22nd of May for allocated time slots provided for each teacher. If you are unavailable to make one of the times, please make contact with your child’s classroom teacher as soon as you can to make an alternative time. 

SSGs are an essential strategy to build partnership approach between home and school and provide a mechanism where all the important information about a child’s learning, wellbeing, interests and needs, is shared and used for planning their development. 

DAILY GEM REFLECTION

You may have noticed a poster at the entrance way to the school recently. The ‘Daily GEM Reflection’ is a reflection tool used to practice the 3 of the pillars to the Resilience Project, ‘Gratitute’, ‘Empathy’ and ‘Mindfulness’. This will bridge the gap between our daily practices at school and home. You can do these with your child/ren together at the beginning or end of the day in the car. These prompts can also be found in students' diaries and could be something you fit into your home routine. Research into the benefits of practicing the Daily practices of the GEM principals have been proven to:

• Increased energy
• Happier
• More positive
• Stronger relationships/friendships 
• Reduced stress 

Pupil Free Day

Last Monday on our Pupil Free Day, staff participated in wellbeing professional learning sessions to upskill in some of the following areas:

• ADHD 

• Self Regulation 

• ASD

• Anxiety 

Staff also spent time building student ‘Wellbeing Walls’ in each classroom following on from the work lead by our Inclusion Coach, Warren in Term 1.

A Wellbeing Wall provides students with a variety of tools to promote positive mental health in our young people. These walls will continue to evolve with students social and emotional needs as well as school lead wellbeing initiative and programs. See the photos for the displays created in each of the learning spaces around the school or feel free to pop into your child’s classroom to check them out!

Brain Break and Self-Regulation Professional Development

Last week, professional development was provided to all staff on self-regulation and the science behind and the importance of brain breaks. All our Education Support staff members were in attendance and wonderful and engaging discussions were had as we learnt strategies from Berry Street and Zones of Regulation. Teachers and ES staff and now busy creating brain break displays for their classroom which students will be able to utilise during the day. 

Brain breaks - In the classroom, brain breaks are quick, structured breaks using physical movement, mindfulness exercises, or sensory activities. Brain breaks can be done individually (like deep breathing) or as a whole class (like a round of Simon Says). No matter what the form, brain breaks take only a few minutes of instructional time. They give your students a brief rest from what they’re doing to help their brains shift focus and return ready to work and learn.

Anxiety Parent Workshop 

We have been extremely lucky to have secured a parent workshop on anxiety which will be presented by Step Through Care, a new integrated Mental Health support service that is delivered across western Victoria. Presenting the workshop will be Rachel Ward (Child and Family Practitioner) who will deliver the presentation.  The presentation will be at 2pm to 3pm at Ceres Primary School and will run for three sessions as follows:

Monday 20th May – The science of anxiety 

Monday 27th May – Practical strategies to implement

Monday 3rd June – Recap and Q & A after trying some of the strategies Thank you for those who completed the Google Form to identify the best day to run the sessions. We weren’t able to cater to all needs but hope that many parents are able to attend on these dates. For those who can’t attend, I will discuss ways with Rachel for you to access the content. If you are looking to attend, could you please fill in the Google Form below and check which dates you will be attending to help with the location of the workshop. https://forms.gle/gX7PMJhTU58P482c6

 If you have any questions, please contact Josh.

Local Services

Cameron Wellness Centre (CWC)

We are of the understanding that we are the first Indigenous Owned, NDIS Registered organisation in Australia offering Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology services. As a First Nations-owned business, we are passionate about working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, and warmly welcome people from all backgrounds.

Just a courtesy note to make you aware that CWC has immediate capacity for Occupational Therapy Services across Geelong, Bellarine and Surf Coast.