Student Welfare and Wellbeing News

Behaviour Update - Term Snapshot

As we approach the end of the term, we want to thank our school community for your continued support in helping us create a safe and respectful environment for all students.

Since we began recording both minor and major behaviour incidents more transparently, we’ve seen a positive shift in our data. For the first time this year, we are on track to reduce the overall number of behaviour incidents at school—both in comparison to the same time last year and to previous terms. This is a significant achievement, and it wouldn’t be possible without the support of our families who have been actively discussing incidents with their children and reinforcing school expectations at home. Thank you.

While this is promising progress, we are still seeing a high number of physical altercations and incidents involving abusive language. These remain key areas of concern, and we are continuing to work closely with students to address them.

Parents and carers are encouraged to check their child’s behaviour records through the Compass app. Simply click on your child’s photo and navigate to the ‘Chronicle’ section to view any reported incidents.

To support our efforts at school, we ask families to continue discussing the following strategies with their children:

• Use “Stop, Walk, Talk”: If someone is doing the wrong thing, say "stop", walk away, and talk to a yard duty teacher.
• Avoid getting involved in situations that don’t concern them.
• Recognise emotional warning signs: Help your child understand what frustration, anger, or annoyance feel like in their body. Recognising these emotions early is the first step in managing them.
• Develop strategies for calming down when they notice these feelings—deep breathing, taking space, or seeking help are all useful tools.

We continue to remind students that behaviours are often a response to emotions, and learning to manage those emotions is an important part of growing up.

Together, with your continued support, we can keep making our school a safe, respectful place for all students to learn and thrive.

Mental health and wellbeing programs for schools

There are a range of mental health and wellbeing programs and supports available to schools to support students, and parents and carers. Click on the links to find out more about each program.

• Headspace SAFEMinds and Suicide Risk Continuum Training – provides training for educators and school staff to increase early intervention to support young people’s mental health
• Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu – supports schools to select programs, staff and other support from an evidence-based menu that best meets the mental health needs of their students
• Mental Health in Primary Schools – supports individual students, helps teachers to better identify and support at-risk students, and to build relationships and referral pathways to local mental health services
• Mental health practitioners in secondary and specialist schools – provides mental health prevention and promotion, counselling and coordination of supports with other services for students with complex needs
• Enhancing Mental Health Support in Schools – provides timely access to free, face-to-face and phone counselling for secondary students, delivered by Headspace
• Mental health and wellbeing toolkit – provides advice for teachers, parents and carers, and students on mental health and wellbeing support
• new Department of Health information (available in 35 languages):
  • Trauma and children – tips for parents and carers
  • Trauma – help for your reaction and recovery.

Policy, guidance and resources

• Self-Harm and Attempted Suicide Response
• Suicide Response (Postvention)
• Mental Health in Schools
• Emergency and Critical Incident Management Planning
• Managing and Reporting School Incidents (Including Emergencies).