Student Wellbeing
Our Let's TALK Launch - Last Monday 19th July at Assembly
Following our Years 3 to 6 Buddy Training during our SEL lessons for the "Let's TALK Program", where students were trained in supporting all St Joey's students to be ‘seen, heard & valued’, our Term 3 Let's TALK Buddies were introduced to our school community at last Monday's assembly. Founder, Jetha Devapura, met with our new Buddies and spoke with the school community who were at the assembly. Although 45 students volunteered to be buddies, we could only have 25 this term and look forward to having a new cohort of volunteers for Term 4.
At the assembly, we shared a slideshow and explained what the 'Let's TALK Program is all about, including what our role will be each recess or lunchtime, what we can help students with and why we wanted to be a Let's TALK Buddy.
VESPER said : Have you ever seen someone standing by themselves in the playground?
Have you ever wondered if they’re okay? Sometimes all it takes is one conversation to make someone feel included. One conversation CAN change a person’s day.
ZARA B explained: At St Joseph’s School, we’re introducing ‘Let’s TALK’, an important wellbeing initiative that is a simple way to help everyone feel connected, included and supported.
VESPER quizzed: So why’s it called LET’S TALK, I hear you ask?
Let’s TALK stands for
L- for Letting
E - for Everyone
T - for Talk
And S - for Safely
Letting everyone talk safely is important because everyone wants to feel SAFE, HEARD and VALUED.
ZARA B detailed: Now, what does TALK stand for?
T is for TELL. Be able to tell when someone has a concern.
A is for ACKNOWLEDGE. Acknowledge the person and their concern.
L is for LISTEN. Listen carefully to get to the bottom of their concern.
K is to KEEP IN TOUCH by helping them OR getting an adult to help them.
VESPER explained: What are the REASONS to support the Let’s TALK Program at St Joseph’s?
ONE - If it isn’t safe to talk, students won’t share their concerns
TWO - If they don’t share their concerns, they keep it bottled up inside and things can get way worse.
THREE - We come to school to learn. If we don’t feel safe to speak up, we won’t be ready to learn and we won’t learn effectively.
ZARA B said: : Earlier in the year, many of our staff did the training with Jay Devapura to be ‘Let’s TALK’ Mentors. Then last term our Year 3/ 4 and Yr 5/ 6 students completed the training to become ‘Let’s TALK Buddies’ in their classes, using podcast videos and discussions.
ZARA B explained: We learnt how to use the Let’s TALK Framework, so that when we are on duty as a Let’s Talk Buddy and we see a student on the playground who may need our help, we can use this to help us know the right things to say to try to help the person.
Vesper then introduced our Term 3 Let's TALK Buddies:
WILLIAM and JAMES showed the new Let’s TALK Communication Board that will let our Buddies know
1. Who our Term 3 Buddies are
2. Who is rostered on each recess or lunchtime
3. What events we have coming up for our Let’s Talk Buddies, such as Check-In Meetings.
This board will be kept downstairs under the staircase near the 5/ 6 and 3/ 4 learning spaces with the pink vests and lanyards kept on the hooks.
Chloe and Tong Tong then explainedwhat kinds of qualities makes someone a good Let’s TALK Buddy. They said, these included showing kindness, being respectful, being reliable, good listeners, inclusive, being positive role models and being willing to help others.
Max, Dallas, Ollie & Alex explained the role of the buddies:
Our role is to make sure you feel safe to talk to us if you have a worry or a concern. Each lunchtime, two students who are trained ‘Let’s TALK Buddies put on their pink vests and lanyards and go out into the yard. We are really friendly so you can come and talk to us if you want. We might come and check with you if you seem worried, sad or upset. We are here to help and if we can’t solve the problem ourselves, we’ll help you find a teacher or staff member who can. If you don’t feel like talking straight away, that’s okay. You can come and find us later or we might ask just to sit with you for a while just to keep you company. We’ll be wearing our bright pink vests, so we’re easy to spot.
Bel, Indie B, Emme, Heidi explained some of the ways they can help …….
- We can help someone find a friend
- We can help someone join a game
- We can listen when someone needs to talk
- We can help everyone feel welcome
BECAUSE WE WANT ALL STUDENTS AT ST JOSEPH’S TO FEEL SEEN, HEARD AND VALUED.
Vesper & Zara B concluded with some advice for our students :
So if you need help at recess or lunchtime out on the playground, look out for these pink vests for another person you can chat to for help. Hopefully you’ve learnt a little bit more about the ‘Let’s TALK Buddies’ and about how they can help you if you have a concern or worry.
Next term we will have a new group of 'Let's TALK Buddies:
TERM 4 :
Kirra, Indiana, Chloe G, Winnie, Frankie, Hazel, Flynn, Hao Hao, Indie, Skyla, Noah, Kai, Saoirse, Edie, Hamish M, Hugo Cr, Leo, Aleesha, Goldie + 6 extras from Term 3 who may wish to continue. The students are now rostered to serve our school community each recess or lunchtime.
Looking forward to seeing our superstar 'Let's TALK Buddies' in action around our schoolyard and in our classrooms!
Kind Regards,
Jenny Todd
(Mental Health & Wellbeing Leader)