Wellbeing News
Messages from Emily Prince
Harmony Day
It was wonderful to see all the staff and students wearing orange and their traditional clothing last week. The students spent the day learning about the wide range of cultures across our school and the importance of acceptance. We had an incredible African Drumming experience where the students got to listen to and create music of their own. What an amazing experience celebrating Harmony Day in such a culturally rich school!
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Mental Health in Primary School (MHiPS)
St Agatha's School is now a member of the Mental Health in Primary School (MHiPS) framework that is designed to support all students' wellbeing and in particular their mental health. The framework works within three tiers of support. These are Universal, Targetted and Intensive. This allows us to provide support to students and their families when and if they need it by making referrals through external and/or internal pathways. A key feature of MHiPS is developing a common language and understanding around mental health through the use of the Wellbeing Continuum.
We use the Wellbeing Continuum to monitor our mental health over a period of time. Most people will fluctuate between Good and Coping. At times, due to many various factors people may move towards the Struggling and Overwhelmed end of the scale. This may be caused by having continuous friendship issues, feelings of low mood, feeling anxious and lacking in self confidence. At school when students are identified as 'struggling' or 'overwhelmed' we can look to implement some targetted or intensive strategies to support mental health.
We encourage you to use this scale when talking to your child about how they are feeling from day to day. The video link describes how you may like to use this at home with your children. https://vimeo.com/844785801
Please reach out to your child's teacher if your child is experiencing regular episodes of feeling 'struggling' or 'overwhelmed'. We are here to support you.
Here are some useful links if you or child has significant mental health concerns
Learn more about depression and anxiety, or talk it through with our support service.
Phone: 1300 224 636 (24/7)
Email or chat online
Helps young people aged 12 to 25 who are going through a tough time, providing support for problems with depression, anxiety, bullying and body image.
A confidential, free and secure space where young people aged 12 to 25 or their family can chat, email or speak on the phone with a qualified youth mental health professional.
Phone: 1800 650 890 (9am – 1am everyday)
A free, private and confidential, telephone and online counselling service specifically for young people aged between 5 and 25.
Phone: 1800 55 1800 (24/7)