Wellbeing
Lindsey Delooze - Assistant Principal - Wellbeing and Disability Inclusion
Melanie Irons - Assistant Principal - Curriculum, Engagement and Wellbeing
Tom Penberthy - Mental Health and Wellbeing Coordinator
Week 3
The term is already swiftly moving forward and the wellbeing team are really looking forward to the upcoming Year 2, 3 and 4 camps. It is always lovely to see our wonderful children in school, but camps add an extra layer of magic where we get to build stronger connections and memories that last a lifetime. The teaching teams are working hard on planning the camps and ensuring all documentation is done as well as preparing the students for these exciting experiences. If you feel like your child may need a little extra support for any reason, please reach out to the team.
Week 4 sees the start to our art therapy sessions. Heshanthi will be joining us from Latrobe University. She will be running small group sessions and whole class sessions under the guidance of Tom Penberthy on Thursdays and Fridays. We are excited to see the impact of these sessions. See below for more information!
School Wide Positive Behaviour Support
Current Whole School Behaviour Focus - Cooperating
This week we have introduced our next behaviour focus: ‘Cooperating’ as part of our focus on the value of inclusion this term. Students have been learning about some different ways to cooperate through sharing, taking turns, respecting other people's opinions and negotiating and compromising in a respectful way. Students and all Wembley staff will be watching for any students demonstrating inclusion by cooperating and record a nomination for these students. If your child comes home with an orange inclusion stamp, be sure to ask them what they did to earn this stamp.
Watch the video below where some of our students show us how we can cooperate.
Previous Whole School Behaviour Focus - Welcoming Others
Over the previous two weeks, students have been learning about the behaviour of 'Welcoming Others' as part of this term's focus on inclusion. In every class, students engaged in lessons about 'Welcoming Others'. As part of these lessons, students looked at scenarios where they might be able to welcome someone who is feeling excluded or unsure in the classroom or school yard. They also read books where characters showed inclusion and welcomed others or where they were not inclusive and the impact this can have. Students were also given stamps and nominated for our Wembley Values Award when they were seen welcoming others. We are thrilled to share that there were over 360 nominations in the last fortnight for students modelling our value of inclusion and, in particular, our behaviour of 'welcoming others'. We are so proud to see so many Wembley students demonstrating these behaviours as we continue to learn together about how we can all be more inclusive.
Wembley Values Award Winners
Thank you to all the students who nominated their peers when they saw them showing last fortnight's focus behaviour of 'Welcoming Others'. It was wonderful to read about all the great ways students have been showing inclusion by welcoming their peers. Congratulations to each of the students, listed below, who won the Wembley Values Award last week.
Inclusion: Welcoming Others | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prep | Maisie S | For showing our value of Inclusion by 'Welcoming Others ' when, at the start of the year, you welcomed another new prep to play with you. |
| Year 1 | Isla H | For showing our value of Inclusion by 'Welcoming Others ' when you included another student at lunch time by saying they could join in with your game. |
| Year 2 | Bonnie N | For showing our value of Inclusion by 'Welcoming Others ' when you included a student in the yard and helped them find a friend to play with. |
| Year 3 | Charlotte W | For showing our value of Inclusion by 'Welcoming Others ' when you always make an effort to include your friends each and every day. |
| Year 4 | Hugo C | For showing our value of Inclusion by 'Welcoming Others ' when you were really kind and invited another student to play with you during lunch time. |
| Year 5 | Lucas A | For showing our value of Inclusion by 'Welcoming Others ' when you saw a Prep on their own at lunch time and invited them to play. |
| Year 6 | Kiran M | For showing our value of Inclusion by 'Welcoming Others ' when you introduced a new student to other people and became their friend on their first day at school. |
Art Therapy
Wembley is excited to welcome Heshanthi Munasinha to our school over the next 12 weeks as she begins her placement as an Arts Therapist. Arts Therapy combines art with counselling practises to support the mental health and wellbeing of the participant.
Wembley’s existing Social and Emotional Learning program with be bolstered by the addition of Heshanthi and it will directly compliment some of the learning that all students across the school engage in across the year, particularly those that sit within our SWPBS and Respectful Relationships program. Some of the topics that participants in the Arts Therapy program might engage in include:
• Resilience
• Empowerment and Personal Strengths
• Controlling strong emotions
• Emotional Literacy and Expression
• Calming and Kindness
The Arts Therapy sessions will take place during the school day and will be supervised by Tom Penberthy and members of Wembley’s leadership team as well. The students who will participate have been identified by our Wellbeing Team as well as classroom teachers, and their participation is voluntary. Permission notifications will be sent out to families this week via Sentral.
If you would like further information or have any other questions then please reach out to Tom Penberthy (thomas.penberthy@education.vic.gov.au)
Staff Professional Development
There are currently a wealth of opportunities in place for staff to continue growing their understanding of wellbeing. The wellbeing team are leading three professional development sessions with the whole staff this term on Individual Education Plans and writing SMART goals, the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) program and SWPBS. The Executive Leadership team have been accessing training on Anti-Racism so that we can disseminate this further across school. The team are also working through a range of departmental opportunities to strengthen our practice and understanding of a range of additional needs. The Educational Support Team also had a day of professional development at the end of Term 2 to give the team a chance to explore building relationships and making adjustments in the classroom. As a wellbeing group, there is a lot of work going on to reflect and support the ongoing needs of our children in school.
Breakfast Club
Breakfast club continues to run Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in the eating area 8.30 - 8.55am.
We have introduced a broader range of cereal (cheerios, weeties, weetbix and maple crunch) over the last couple of weeks, to add a little more diversity to our menu.
As mentioned in previous newsletters we have been trialling reusable spoons. We have found that these work better with the cereal and disposable ones tend to be given out with the fruit cups. Please keep reminding your children to return any reusable spoons or cups.
Wellbeing Dogs
Ginny has been absent in school during week 2 and 3 as the Prep team have had the baby chicks in. Ginny found this to be a very exciting event last year as her mothering instinct kicked in! We have had lots of visitors to the chicks in replacement and we look forward to having Ginny back in next week.
