Climate and Culture- Social Emotional Wellbeing

Communicating with the SWPBL Climate and Culture Team

If you have any questions relating to our SWPBL framework, please email:

Llewela Humphries: llewela.humphries@education.vic.gov.au

Stacey Bowles: stacey.bowles@education.vic.gov.au

Damien Kitch: damien.kitch@education.vic.gov.au

What will you find on this page in Issue 4?

SWPBL Tiered behaviour expectations / SWPBL Classroom Behaviour Matrix / Respectful Relationships / Let's TALK

School Wide Positive Behaviour for Learning -  Tiered behaviour expectations

At Upwey South Primary School, our SWPBL teaching team developed a very clear document which identify the expected behaviours linked to Student ACTIONS. The tiered behaviour starts with the behaviours seen when a student is Ready to Learn, behaviour when they need a simple teacher Redirect which may then escalate to Remind and Redirect. Finally the red level is the Intervene stage. These sections are on display within all rooms, printed on 4 separate sheets for ease of student viewing.

SWPBL Classroom Behaviour Matrix

At the beginning of each school year, all classes spend time developing a set of classroom expectations that link to our school values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience. Attached below are the Classroom Behaviour Matrix for all classes (Foundation classes are still being developed). These will be included in all issues as a reference for parents and our wider community.

As a reminder these are our School Wide Positive Behaviours for Learning - Behaviour Matrix focusing on Upwey Souths 3 R's.

Respectful Relationships

Staff members underwent their first training session on Thursday night for the ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Respectful Relationships program. This program supports schools to promote and model respect, positive attitudes and behaviours to all students. It teaches our children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence. Over the coming weeks we will be researching and developing a clear scope and sequence to integrate activities into our weekly programs. Staff are beginning to build personal knowledge and strength in the activities that we will be delivering. The aim for Upwey South P.S. is to begin Respectful Relationship lessons from Term Two. 

In 2022 staff at Upwey South Primary School will be engaging in the Let'sTALK program.

The Let’sTALK Program is a proactive and preventative approach to establish an environment of trust, understanding and caring to encourage open and safe conversations. The school’s leadership, wellbeing team, teachers and education support staff play a key role to ensure the Let’sTALK program develops a culture of psychological safety that improves wellbeing and performance for students as well as staff.

If you require any support, the below organisations can assist you:

Yarra Valley Psychology is partnering with our school!

We are pleased to share with you that our school has secured a partnership with Yarra Valley Psychology (YVP) Services (https://yvp.com.au/), with the aim of providing in-school counselling services to students. 

Throughout schools across Victoria, student counselling is a much needed (and under resourced) service. Many of our families are currently experiencing first-hand the difficulties associated with trying to gain access to support services for their children. Therefore, we must be grateful that we have been presented with the opportunity to enter a partnership with YVP, as the resources do not exist for this partnership to occur across schools within our region. 

Please be aware of the information below:

Is there a cost involved to access the service, and does my child require a Mental Health Plan?

There is no cost involved for the family. 

Your child does not require a Mental Health Plan to access the service. This is due to the fact that the counselling sessions will be delivered by a Masters of Counselling practitioner, who is under the direct supervision of Yarra Valley Psychology (YVP) Services. 

There is also no limit on the number of sessions a child may access. Access to sessions, and duration (in weeks) will be determined between YVP, the school, and the parent/carer. 

When do sessions commence, and how will they be structured?

Sessions will commence from the beginning of Term Two, with student-needs being prioritized in partnership with the school and YVP. Prior to any child commencing, a confidential discussion will take place between the YVP counsellor and the parent/carer. 

Our school has been allocated a male counsellor who will conduct sessions each Wednesday for the entire duration of Term Two and Term Three. 

The counsellor will have the time allocation to see up to five students per day, with each session being allocated 50 minutes. At this stage sessions will be occurring each Wednesday. 

Will each child who is referred be able to access the service?

Unfortunately, this is not achievable within the current mental health environment. Referrals will be prioritized on a needs basis from within our own school cohort. 

If I wish for my child to access the service, what do I need to do?

Please complete the referral form below and return it via the instructions on the form.