Student Wellbeing

Happy kids learn! It is vital we attend to the social and emotional welfare of students alongside their academic needs so they are able to deal positively with life’s challenges, experience a sense of connectedness with the school and others, and are well placed to develop into well-balanced and successful young adults.

Start-up Learning program

In the first few weeks of the year, all classes participate in what we call the ‘Start-up Program’. This program has a focus on the school values:

Respect, Responsibility, Care & Compassion & Doing Your Best

Each class unpacks these values and comes up with ways to demonstrate their understanding, and how they can be demonstrated. Expected behaviour across the school is derived from our values so that there is a positive culture which fosters successful learning.

It addresses undesirable behaviour and what to do if you are on the receiving end of any type of bullying at all. Bullying is not acceptable and if it does occur we deal with it swiftly and effectively. We try to build a sense of resilience with children so they can react appropriately and put problems into perspective.

We use positive reinforcement to encourage desirable behaviour whenever possible rather than wait and reprimand if undesirable behaviour occurs.

Student Wellbeing program

The children in grades 1-6 will participate in a wellbeing and resilience class-based program which offers practical strategies to help children and young people function well at school and in life. There is a strong focus on circle time, cooperative learning approaches & educational games to build positive relationships, positive emotions and teach social-emotional skills.

The Core Values of this program are strongly aligned with the values of Banyule Primary School.

Co-operation, achievement, respect and empathy are universal values that are linked to the development of resilience. These values also help young people to be connected to their family, peers and teachers and teaches children how to behave in ways that reflect the values:

· Co-operation: sharing and learning together

· Achievement: persisting and trying your best

· Respect: respecting ourselves, each other and the environment

· Empathy: treating each other with care and compassion.

The program also looks at:

People Bouncing Back: developing strategies for coping and bouncing back

Courage: finding courage in both everyday life and difficult circumstances

Looking on the bright side: teaching optimistic thinking

Emotional literacy: amplifying positive emotions and managing negative emotions

Relationships: skills for building and maintaining friendships

Humour: as a coping skill

Bullying: skills for countering bullying

Banyule Awards

Each week at our Monday assemblies, students from each class are chosen to receive Banyule Awards. Again, these students are chosen because they are a good role model to others and walk the talk with the school values. Their names are published in the newsletter and they receive applause for their achievements.

School assemblies are a great opportunity for students to share their achievements.