Student Wellbeing & Mental Health

From the Wellbeing Zone 🌿

Following our Term 1 focus on Friendology, we are now looking ahead at our Term 2 wellbeing learning through the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) program.

RRRR is a whole-school approach to teaching students the skills they need to build positive relationships, understand themselves and others, and navigate challenges in healthy ways. These lessons are explicitly taught during our Friday wellbeing sessions and are carefully sequenced across all year levels to ensure a shared language and consistent skill development across the school.

Through the RRRR curriculum, students learn about:

• understanding and naming emotions
• developing personal strengths and identity
• managing stress and strong feelings
• problem-solving and conflict resolution
• help-seeking and building supportive relationships
• respect, inclusion and understanding difference.

While the concepts are shared across the school, the learning is tailored to each year level to ensure it is developmentally appropriate.

What this looks like in Term 2

• Foundation – Grade 2: Students will focus on building their emotional literacy and early coping skills, learning to recognise feelings, understand triggers and begin developing simple strategies to manage emotions and solve problems.
• Grades 3–4: Students will continue developing their understanding of emotions, while building skills in coping, problem-solving and recognising personal strengths. There is also a growing focus on applying these skills in real-life situations.
• Grades 5–6: Students will explore more complex concepts such as help-seeking, managing stress, respectful relationships and understanding identity and social influences, supporting their transition into adolescence.

Across all year levels, these lessons are designed to build students’ confidence, resilience and ability to form positive, respectful relationships.

Wellbeing in Practice 💡 

Throughout the year we will continue to share practical wellbeing ideas and resources for families.

This week, some of our staff participated in professional learning through a session led by Dr Billy Garvey focused on Mental Health First Aid for children and young people. Many of you may be familiar with Dr Billy through the Pop Culture Parenting podcast and author of 'Ten things I wish you knew about your child's mental health'. 

The session emphasised the importance of early intervention, effective communication and creating supportive environments that promote positive mental wellbeing.

Some key takeaways included:

• Understanding what is developmentally typical, and what may signal that a child is experiencing stress or difficulty
• Recognising that behaviour is often a form of communication, reflecting underlying needs or emotions
• The importance of responding in ways that prioritise connection, safety and emotional regulation
• Building confidence as adults to know when to lean in, when to seek support, and how to respond early.

The session was practical, reassuring and highly relevant for all families. If you are interested, a recording of the webinar is available HERE

As we approach the end of term, we wish all of our students and families a wonderful school holiday and Easter break. We hope it provides an opportunity to enjoy a slower pace, spend time together and recharge after what has been a busy and productive term. Our students have shown incredible effort, growth and resilience, and we look forward to welcoming them back refreshed and ready for the term ahead.

Kayla Pepper | Learning Specialist - Wellbeing

Upcoming Workshops / Other Information

Yellow Ladybugs 2026 Conference – Reclaiming the Past to Shape the Future

Yellow Ladybugs is a non-government organisation, dedicated to the happiness, success and celebration of autistic girls, women and gender diverse individuals. This three-day event (2-4 June, 2026), Supporting Autistic Girls and Gender-Diverse Students at School and Beyond, brings together over 50 lived and professional perspectives from around the world. It’s led by an autistic-run charity that has always stood proudly for empowerment, understanding, and community. Together, we’ll explore how far we’ve come and how much further we can go through neuro-affirming, trauma-informed discussions that celebrate growth, belonging, and hope.

For more information - 

Pop Culture Parenting Live Show - tonight!

After a sold-out Melbourne show last year, Billy and Nick are returning to the stage with a brand-new live experience celebrating the beautiful chaos of raising kids.

When - Friday March 27th @ 7pm (there are still a few last minute tickets available!)

Where - National Theatre, St Kilda 

Podcasts of Interest

Pop Culture Parenting - Pop Culture Parenting — Guiding Growing Minds

Well, hello Anxiety - Podcast - Dr. Jodi Richardson

Parental as Anything - Parental As Anything with Maggie Dent and Bec Sparrow  - ABC listen

The Imperfects - The Imperfects Podcast

Anglicare Parentzone Newsletter - Parenting in the East What's On Term 2 2026

News and information on programs, services, groups and events to support parents across the Eastern Region of Melbourne. Some of the upcoming (and free!) programs for Term 2 include Tuning in to Kids, Talking Teens, Dads Matter, Emotion Focussed Parenting & the Strengthening Parents Support Program (for parents & carers of children with a disability, developmental delay or neurodivergence - including ASD, ADHD & AuDHD) - 

ParentZone Pods

Podcasts for parents, carers and those who support others with their parenting. The ParentZone Teams are delighted to bring you TWELVE ParentZone Pods. Each Pod identifies and explores common issues parents bring to our parenting groups and offers strategies to try in these situations. 

Podcast Series 1

Episode 1: Family Meetings

Episode 2: Dealing with Anxiety

Episode 3: Sibling Rivalry

Episode 4: Getting Children to Listen

Episode 5: How to Respond to Kids' Behaviour

Episode 6: How to Stop Yelling at your Kids 

Podcast Series 2

Episode 1: Positive Discipline

Episode 2: School Refusal

Episode 3: Parenting our Teenagers

Episode 4: Meltdowns vs Tantrums

Episode 5: Couples Parenting Together

Episode 6: Dads Parenting Today

ParentZone Pods can be found on our website, Apple and via Spotify