Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Stephanie Di Salvo
Assistant Principal
Dear parents, carers and friends of the school community
Kindness Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence
Join us on Friday 18th of March, 2022, for the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA). Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative celebrates 12 years of action, connecting schools and communities to find workable solutions to prevent bullying.
The theme for 2022 is Kindness Culture. By building Kindness Culture together, we can promote inclusion, respect and community belonging for all students in schools across Australia. We’ll be celebrating all week with a variety of events including activities that promote kindness, sharing & positive affirmation.
The day works well with our school values of empathy, respect and inclusion that we incorporate into our daily programs and learning.
School-Wide Breakfast Club
Research shows that a child's ability to concentrate in class, self-regulate and learn is negatively impacted if they are hungry. It has been reported that the rising cost of living makes it increasingly difficult particularly for low-income families and families living in poverty to provide enough healthy food for all the family each week.
This term, our School-Wide Breakfast Club has been rolled out, to support families and students to receive access to nutritious food items while at school.
Tier 2 Targeted Small groups
During the past 6 weeks of Term 1, our school Social Worker/Mental Health Practitioner Zoe Sharpe and Tutor Shirley Yip, has worked collaboratively to co-develop three small groups designed to target students who are demonstrating low levels of distress or disengagement. The three groups which are currently running in term one are:
- The Emotional Awareness and Resilience Group: This group is targeted at students who have low mental health or low self-esteem, which impacts their ability to try new or challenging things. The program is designed to assist students with increasing emotional awareness and expression, Learning positive coping skills (using an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Framework), Learning that it is OK to try and fail and how this can build resilience and Learning a growth mindset approach (ie., Being open to new experiences and believing that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work).
- The Middle School Wellbeing Group: The middle school wellbeing group is targeted at students who have low social skills and/or challenges with emotional expression. This group is facilitated using an adapted version of The Emotional ABCs program. In these sessions we look to assist students with Increased emotional awareness and expression, learning how to initiate and maintain positive relationships with peers and feel supported to share ideas and opinions in a safe environment.
- Girls Group: This group is targeted towards girls in Middle Years who might want to feel a sense of community and speak to female-specific issues. We have designed to assist this group with increased emotional awareness and expression, learning positive coping skills, to help with managing problems, worries and anxiety, learning mindfulness techniques that might be used to self-regulate, and feeling supported to share ideas and opinions as a female in a safe environment.
Health and Wellbeing Supports for Students and Families
Department of Education and Training provides a range of evidence-informed and reputable organisations which provide mental health and wellbeing support including:
• Supporting their mental health and wellbeing
• Getting help and helping someone else
• Staying healthy
• Staying safe online
• Staying safe at home
• Support for Koorie students
• Support for VCE students
• Raising concerns at school
See the link for further information
Smiling Minds provides tools and resources to make every home a mindful one!
The resources will support your child and the family to establish new habits and foster positive mental health routines in the home environment.
https://www.smilingmind.com.au/at-home
