Wellbeing News

Wellbeing at St Anthony's

Recently we celebrated Family week. It was a week to celebrate the goodness of family and the goodness of our school family. It was also a good opportunity to emphasise to students the many and varied ways that we keep everyone safe at school. If we have these discussions often and make known the ways we aim to keep our children safe then they will come to realise that sometimes things do go wrong at school and sometimes others can be mean/angry/cross/upset but there are many measures in place to ensure everyone is listened to and everyone is safe.

Most of the population of our school understand and articulate high expectations but there are some students who need a little more layering to understand this. It is good for them to know that they are children and learning the ways of relationships. We have teachers on duty every morning, afternoon and during recess, in the car park and at the gates, teachers on first aid, canteen, teachers and LSO's in the learning spaces at all times to ensure everyone is listened to and safe, Teachers and LSO's who listen to them and try to understand their side of the story and help them to solve problems,  the leaders of the school work to understand issues and help students and mums and dads, we have protocols and procedures that come into place if there is something unsafe that occurs at school, we have locked gates and entries to school all day to keep everyone safe, we have mindful moments and mindful corners and spaces for students to calm down when they need some time to be calm, we have ways of adjusting learning for students who need extra support, we have alternative lunchtime activities for everyone if they do not want to be on the playground every day such as Lego club and thoughtful Thursdays, we have special programs like Art Therapy and counseling that children can attend to help them feel happy and safe at school and with friends, we have SEL lessons to enable them to continually learn how to be good friends and to solve problems, the teachers keep careful track of any incidents in class or on the yard where someone is hurt or upset or has done the wrong thing and that we call this wellbeing tracking and we always work to help individuals and families. Sometimes people come to school not feeling happy and we also have things we can do to listen and help anyone who isn't feeling happy or safe.

It is important that our students know that their school is a safe and happy place. They must know that when something does go wrong they know there is a process and way to make sure they feel safe. Many of the learning environments that our educators create for their students are comfortable and calm like a home and many of the ways they work together in their neighbourhoods and with their learning support educators model good relationships and interactions and promote a home like feeling. Many of our educators make themselves available to all children in their neighbourhood and share responsibilities for each others children. New parents on tours notice and comment on this feeling.

We thank all staff for creating safe and trusting relationships with our students and for telling their students this often.