Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS)
Boroondara Park Primary School
Supporting students’ social and emotional wellbeing is an important part of everyday school life and a shared responsibility across our whole school community. We believe that happy, connected and confident children are ready to learn.
Through our wellbeing scope and sequence, wellbeing programs and initiatives and whole school promotion, students explicitly learn and practise skills such as:
- understanding what respectful, inclusive and positive behaviour looks like and knowing when to seek help if something doesn’t feel right
- building respectful and inclusive friendships
- managing emotions and responding calmly to difficult situations
- speaking up, seeking help and knowing which trusted adults they can go to
supporting others and being an active bystander
Our commitment to promoting positive behaviours and preventing bullying is also reflected in our school policies, procedures and key documents, including our School Values, Rights and Responsibilities and our Classroom Behaviour Expectations and Consequences framework. These provide clear and consistent expectations for respectful behaviour and reinforce that everyone has a role in creating a safe and inclusive school.
We take a proactive approach to bullying prevention. Rather than only responding when something happens, we intentionally teach students the knowledge, skills and strategies they need to build positive relationships, manage challenges and respond appropriately. Most importantly, we want our students to feel confident in the skills and strategies they have learned at school. If they are ever faced with behaviour that makes them feel unsafe or uncomfortable, we want them to know what they can do, who they can turn to and how they can manage this.
By working together as a whole school community, we are building a culture where respect, kindness, inclusion and belonging are part of everyday life, and where every child feels safe, connected and confident to speak up and seek help. Together, we are building a school community where everyone belongs and every child feels empowered to make a positive difference.
Thank you for supporting our school's commitment to student wellbeing.
Kind regards,
Kristen Schultz
Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader
Learning Specialist - Wellbeing