Mental Health & Wellbeing Leader - Kerry Lomas

The Victorian Government is expanding the Mental Health in Primary Schools program to every government and low-fee non-government primary school in Victoria. This will support individual students, help teachers better identify and support at-risk students, and build relationships and referral pathways to local mental health services.

Participating schools receive funding to employ a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader, a qualified teacher, to work across the school to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing for students, staff and families based on a broad knowledge of the needs of the school community. This means:

building the capacity of school staff, in particular classroom teachers, to identify and support students with mental health concerns in the classroom
supporting the school to create clear referral pathways internally (within school) and externally (to community services) for students identified as requiring further assessment and intervention
coordinating targeted mental health support for students by working with regional staff, school wellbeing and leadership teams, teachers, parents/carers and external agencies
advocating for student voice and agency in their wellbeing and mental health needs.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders receive evidence-based training in mental health literacy, supporting student need, and building school capacity, and receive ongoing professional development.

Student Wellbeing Officer - Bree Schmidt

Student Wellbeing is a priority at Bellbrae Primary School, and many programs are conducted at a school-wide level to assist students to feel happy, safe and connected at school - for example SWPBS and Respectful Relationships education.

Bellbrae Primary School also recognises that some students require additional 1:1 wellbeing support and has available a part-time Student Wellbeing Officer. The role of the Student Wellbeing Officer is to provide support to students who may have significant challenges impacting on their general wellbeing and functioning at school.

The Student Wellbeing Officer can assist students through short-term counselling; assistance with referrals to agencies for longer-term counselling or support; providing advice to parents; assisting with referrals for family or parenting support; and supporting staff in addressing the needs of these students in the school setting. The Student Wellbeing Officer also coordinates and facilitates small group wellbeing programs based on need.

Referral to the Student Wellbeing Officer is via the classroom teacher. Referrals are prioritised based on urgency.

Wellbeing

At Bellbrae Primary School, we place great value on the welfare and wellbeing of all students in our school community. Each child in our school community is supported by teachers and school leaders to aspire to achieve their personal best, academically and personally. Bellbrae Primary School has a positive community atmosphere where children from all age groups work and play together and where families and teachers work in partnership.

Students at Bellbrae Primary School receive positive encouragement for their efforts working toward their academic and personal goals as part of our focus on developing confident, valued, life long learners.

All students are actively engaged in:

· School Wide Positive Behaviour (SWPB) Framework,

· Respectful Relationships Curriculum,

· Blu Earth – Mindful Physical Activity Program,

· Wellbeing Support Staff.

Students have the opportunity to be involved in:

Junior School Council student group,
Student Wellbeing Team,
BEST (Bellbrae Sustainability Team) Student group,
Senior School Sports and Arts Leadership,
Participation in Year Six and Foundation Buddy Program,
Teacher Led Lunchtime social groups.

School Wide Positive Behaviour

At Bellbrae Primary School our approach to the wellbeing of our students centres upon School Wide Positive Behaviour (SWPB), which is an evidence-based framework that focuses on developing a positive, safe and supportive learning culture. SWPB encourages positive feedback to students often and focuses on teaching students how to behave appropriately.

As part of the SWPB, Bellbrae Primary School has developed a Positive Behaviour Matrix that is displayed in every classroom and around the school prominently. The behaviour matrix clearly states the behaviours that we expect of our Bellbrae Primary School students in various settings within the school. The behaviour expectations are outlined in accordance to our school values of Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Aspire.

Classroom teachers explicitly teach the positive behaviour expectations included on our Behaviour Matrix, just as we explicitly teach academic subjects. Students who display the positive behaviours are acknowledged and reinforced by teachers across the school. Our weekly Well Done Awards are awarded to students that have demonstrated positive behaviours from our Behaviour Matrix reflecting the School Values of Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Aspire.

Minor Major Behaviour Flowchart

Respectful Relationships

Respectful Relationships promotes and models respect, positive attitudes and behaviours. It teaches our children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence. We use the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships learning materials to explicitly teach social and emotional learning and positive social interactions in the classroom. This learning ties in with the Health and Physical Education, Critical and Creative Thinking and Personal and Social Capability areas of the Victorian Curriculum.

Barwon RR Student Empowerment toolkit