Respectful Relationships & Wellbeing News

Berry Street and Respectful Relationships

Respectful Relationship topics for second semester across the whole school

Teaching the final four topics of Respectful Relationships for the year - stress management, help-seeking, gender and identity and positive gender relationships - is crucial in promoting a healthy and inclusive environment in our schools, with education being the key for us building a safer environment.

 5: Stress management

• Children can experience all kinds of challenges as they grow and develop. The help-seeking behaviours of children are fundamental to their mental health and wellbeing. Encouraging and fostering help-seeking behaviours is one way to improve mental health and wellbeing. It is important to work with students to make sure they are aware about help-seeking avenues and are confident to seek help from an appropriate source when needed.

Topic 6: Help-seeking

• Research shows that children become aware of gender at an early age, being well aware of gender norms and making efforts to fit within gendered expectations by the time they are in kindergarten.As young children learn about gender, they may also begin to enact sexist values, beliefs and attitudes. They may, for example, insist that some games are for boys and others for girls, and actively reject peers from certain games. This means that it is important to commence work on building positive gender relationships within these early years. Classroom activities can be used to help children to explore gender identity, challenge stereotypes, and to learn to value and show respect for diversity and difference, and learn how to apply these attitudes within respectful gender relationships.

Topic 7: Gender and identity

• Research shows that children become aware of gender at an early age, being well aware of gender norms and making efforts to fit within gendered expectations by the time they are in kindergarten. As young children learn about gender, they may also begin to enact sexist values, beliefs and attitudes. They may, for example, insist that some games are for boys and others for girls, and actively reject peers from certain games. This means that it is important to commence work on building positive gender relationships within these early years. Classroom activities can be used to help children to explore gender identity, challenge stereotypes, and to learn to value and show respect for diversity and difference, and learn how to apply these attitudes within respectful gender relationships, helps to build empathy.

Topic 8: Positive gender relations

• The development of empathy is pivotal in the prevention of discrimination and violence. Peers who have an empathetic engagement with the target of violence are more likely to proactively respond with acts of support or kindness. Those with rights affirming attitudes are less likely to engage in gender-based violence. Teachers with higher levels of empathy and greater awareness of the effect that violence can have on victims are more likely to intervene when they see or hear about instances of bullying. Continuing to develop students’ emotions vocabulary and encouraging them to monitor emotions in themselves and others.

Grade 4,5 and 6 Self Esteem and Body Image Day 

On Monday, our senior school students took part in a day of rotations with our senior school teachers. They were involved in five different activities throughout the day, which included enacting positive and negative self-talk, self-love, strengths I admire, social media and body image, and how to build self-esteem.

A group of our staff was recently trained in the education side of body image and eating disorders. As good as the training was, it left us with just as many questions as answers, given the complexity of these unfortunate but ever-growing issues.

Self-esteem and body image are interconnected aspects of an individual's perception and evaluation of themselves. Self-esteem refers to the overall sense of worth and value one holds for oneself, while body image pertains specifically to how an individual perceives and feels about their physical appearance. Both factors play a crucial role in shaping one's mental and emotional well-being.

A healthy self-esteem and positive body image contribute to a person's overall confidence, resilience, and satisfaction with themselves. When individuals have strong self-esteem, they possess a sense of self-acceptance, acknowledging their strengths and weaknesses without harsh self-judgment. This positive self-regard allows them to navigate life's challenges more effectively, form healthier relationships, and pursue personal goals with greater motivation and determination.

On the other hand, body image plays a significant role in shaping one's self-esteem. A positive body image involves having a realistic and favorable perception of one's physical appearance, embracing diversity, and recognizing that beauty exists in various forms. Individuals with a positive body image tend to have higher self-esteem, as they are more likely to focus on their overall well-being and appreciate their bodies for what they can do, rather than conforming to narrow beauty standards. Conversely, negative body image, influenced by societal pressures and comparisons to unrealistic ideals, can lead to decreased self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy, and the development of unhealthy behaviors such as disordered eating or excessive exercise.

We were so impressed with the students' involvement in the day and the maturity they showed in participating in all the different rotations. We hope that they gained something valuable from the experience. If parents would like any extra support on this issue, this resource is a great reference where the teachers received their training: https://butterfly.org.au/.

The students would have all finished their Respectful Relationships topics for this semester, which provides a great foundation for our topics in the second half of the year.

Respectful Relationships Captains 

(Bella M, James B and Eliza F)

On Monday 19th June, the  Grade 4 - 6’s did rotations with Miss Mckay, Mr T, Miss Collins , Miss Paterson (she was a substitute for Miss T) , and our head of respectful relationships teacher, Mr Brown. These rotations included: body image, character strengths, breaking down stereotypes, automatic negative thoughts and positive empowering thoughts, and writing a letter to yourself, reminding yourself that YOU ARE AWESOME! 

Our lesson on body image focussed on early warning signs, the impact of social media on our body image and what we can do to have a more positive view of ourselves. 

The character strength lesson was all about unpacking each of the strengths and which ones we demonstrated in our day to day lives. 

Mr Brown's lesson about breaking down stereotypes helped us understand that it is okay to be yourself and we shouldn't make judgements about how other people look.

The negative vs positive thought lesson classified each of these and we acted out different scenarios identifying the automatic negative thoughts that might creep in and what the empowering positive thoughts could be.

Finally, the letter to ourselves explored how we are each unique with different talents and strengths. The letter was to remind ourselves of this and how proud we should be of ourselves. 

We are so grateful for these teachers for the time & effort they put in to create an interesting and interactive day. If you have any questions on what we did, please feel free to ask your kids and chat about these important topics. Have a good school holiday! 

From the respectful relationships captains.

Bella M, Eliza and James B 

Simon Brown

Head of Wellbeing