WELLBEING PAGE

The end of the year is a time for reflection and celebration, and there are lots of things to be proud of when it comes to Wellbeing and Inclusion here at Lucas Primary School. 

Our Wellbeing and Inclusion Team has expanded this year under the leadership of Jacqui Nash, Assistant Principal for Wellbeing and Inclusion. We continue to be in the fortunate position of being part of the Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) statewide initiative with Cass Jackson-Lee as our Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader (MHaWL) and Learning Specialist for Mental Health and Wellbeing. We also have Katrina Baulch as our Learning Specialist for Disability Inclusion. 

This year we launched School Wide Positive Behaviour Supports (SWPBS) with the introduction of the Expected Behaviour Matrix. We have had a focus this year on the explicit teaching and learning of these expected behaviours. In 2025, we will continue to embed our expected behaviours with a greater focus on the teaching and learning of routines complimentary to the matrix behaviours so that we can maximise teaching and learning time. Our work in this space has already begun as teachers met this past week in their teaching teams for 2025 and began planning for the ‘Great Start’ Program and Term 1 next year.

This year we engaged in a partnership with Federation University Psychology Services and had Provisional Psychologists as part of FedCare’s Outreach Program. The Provisional Psychologists were undertaking Master of Psychology Training, with this placement being their last. We were fortunate to have 20 individual students and then another group of 20 5/6 students engage in sessions with the four psychologists this year. We have made the commitment to continue this partnership in 2025 and are fortunate to be able to support students who might otherwise not be able to access to this type of support.

In 2025 we have a new and exciting development as the whole staff of Lucas PS participate in two of four professional learning days exploring and learning about the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM). ‘Berry Street’ training is ‘shaped by 140 years of experience, decades of research and thousands of dedicated teachers…the Berry Street Education Model helps educators gain new perspectives, strategies and skills to build safer, healthier and more engaging classrooms for all students’. It also ‘enables schools to support students’ self-regulation, relationships and wellbeing to increase student engagement and significantly improve academic achievement’ - https://www.berrystreet.org.au  We look forward to our first day of training at the end of Term 1, 2025.

2025 holds lots of promise for great things but before we launch into the new year, it is important that we all try to take time to slow down, re-charge and reconnect with nature and each other. The school holidays for many of us offer times of carefree fun without time constraints and opportunities to look forward to with family and friends. This time of year, and the summer holidays can also pose challenges for some families and individuals. The following guide provides tips and resources for parents, carers and families to support the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in their care during the school holidays. This includes services to reach out to if more support is needed. https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/health/mentalhealth/english-for-parents-and-carers-wellbeing-support.pdf

Wishing everyone in the Lucas PS community a safe and happy festive season and a restful and rejuvenating summer break. See you back here in 2025.