Wellbeing

PBL

At SFS, our PBL (Positive Behaviours for Learning) school wide expectations are:

Respect,  Responsibility and Kindness

We have a whole school social skills lesson where we explicitly teach an expected behaviour from our Behaviour Expectation matrix. 

This week we have continued to focus on Responsibility Outdoors, Be safe. The children have learnt that sometimes when we play outside we can feel angry or frustrated by the words or actions of others or when things don’t go the way we want them to. 

We need to remember to think before we react in a situation, recognise how we are feeling and use appropriate strategies to help us calm down before we respond to a situation.This keeps everyone safe. The students practiced some self regulation strategies to help them when they are feeling frustrated such as taking deep breaths, getting a drink of water or talking to a trusted adult. 

Here are some of our PBL raffle winners  who have been seen demonstrating school expected behaviours. 

Child Safety standards

To highlight the importance of Child Safety in schools, MACS (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools) has created a resource called “11 standards in 11 months.” 

Let’s look at Child standard 3 in more detail through a newsletter created for parents and carers by MACS. Child safe standard 3 is all about empowering children to know and understand their rights, taking children’s concerns seriously and allowing children to have a say in decisions in the school.

Walk safely to school day

We will celebrate Walk safely to school day on Friday 15th May, 2026.

The purpose of the day is to encourage students to make safe pedestrian choices, promote physical activity, to combat obesity, and to reduce car congestion around schools.

There are also health benefits of walking to school. Walking boosts energy levels, improves focus for learning, and helps children achieve their recommended 60 minutes of daily exercise.There is also an environmental impact as it helps reduce air pollution by lowering car usage. 

It is important for safety to remember that children under 10 should always hold an adult's hand when crossing the road. Other important safety reminders to teach children are:

• Stop, Look, Listen: Before crossing, stop, look left and right for traffic, and listen for cars.
• Use Designated Crossings: Always cross at pedestrian crossings or traffic lights.
• Stay Alert: Avoid distractions like mobile devices while walking.
• Plan Ahead: Practice the safest, quickest route to school with an adult beforehand.

To promote these important messages, the students are allowed to wear bright and colourful socks on the day. 

We will have 2 meeting points where children can meet the staff to walk to school together. We encourage parents to bring their children to one of the 2 meeting points at 7.55 am.

Meeting point 1: Lynbrook Community Centre

Meeting point 2: Figtree Reserve Cnr Alymer Rd and Waterbush Crescent 

The P and F will be providing a piece of fruit and some other breakfast foods for the children who walk to school which they will get when they arrive at school. A form will come home soon via Nforma asking for permission for your child to participate in Walk to School day and to receive some breakfast snacks when they arrive at school. Please ensure you respond to this form so we know which children have permission to walk to school and eat the food when they arrive. Thanks for your support

Lego Club

In Term 2 we have started a Junior Lunchtime Lego club on Fridays during the second lunch break. We have some senior students who are helping to set up and pack up the lego and help the junior students with their weekly building challenges. It was wonderful to see about 40 students come to our first lego club for the year last Friday. Before they started building we discussed the following expected behaviours.

• We need to work together in a group of 2, 3 or 4.
• We use our words to respectfully communicate with others when we are building.
• We listen to each other's ideas and compromise.
• We share the equipment and help each other.
• We pack up the equipment safely when we are finished.

There are many positive benefits of participating in a lego club. These include:

learning to take turns, share, collaborate, and communicate effectively, fostering friendships and reducing isolation.

Building with LEGO sparks imagination, allowing children to experiment with design, develop critical thinking, and practice overcoming challenges through building.

manipulating bricks improves fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. The structured nature of building encourages focus, concentration, and patience.

It provides a welcoming environment for kids to play, explore, and feel a sense of accomplishment.

Our weekly challenge was to build a type of building. This could be a house, animal home, shopping centre, school etc.

If you have any concern about your child’s mental health or wellbeing, please do not hesitate to contact me or make a time to speak with me. 

My working days are Monday to Wednesday and Friday.

Rachel Lenko

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader

rlenko@sfslynbrook.catholic.edu.au