Student Wellbeing
Good mental health and wellbeing is critical to the development of every individual and ensures students have a positive and successful learning experience. Mental health is the way we think or feel about ourselves and what is going on around us, and how we cope with the stresses of life.
Respect
St John’s is a School Wide Positive Behaviours School. Part of this includes our policy on Respect Self, Respect Others and Respect Property. All students at St John’s have a strong understanding of these expectations. Hear from some of our students on what “respect” means to them.
Bucket Filling
One of the positive behaviours we have at St John’s is Bucket Filling. To fill someone’s bucket means to say or do something for them which makes them feel good about themselves. Bucket filling is consistently encouraged at school both in and outside the classroom. This sets up a supportive school environment which extends to our staff and parent community.
The Resilience Project at St John’s
At St John’s have embraced The Resilience Project (TRP) with enthusiasm and heart. Through engaging lessons and meaningful conversations, we are practicing gratitude, empathy, mindfulness & emotional literacy (GEM). These skills are forming the foundation of our social and emotional learning (SEL) and are helping to strengthen resilience and emotional wellbeing across all year levels.
It is inspiring to see students bringing these positive habits into their everyday lives, supporting friends, practicing mindfulness, and recognising moments of gratitude. Staff are also actively involved in the learning, modelling GEM in classrooms and across the school community.
We encourage our school community and families to be part of this journey too. The TRP Parent & Carer Hub is a fantastic online space where you can explore what we’re learning in class, gain insights into each term’s focus and access wellbeing resources, including adult podcasts covering parenting, mental he and resilience. Let’s keep the GEM conversation going, at school and at home! The Resilience Project Parent & Carer Info Link
Positive Behaviours - Dojos
Although valuing the importance of setting clear expectations, we also believe in the importance of recognising and celebrating students who consistently make good choices. Class Dojos is a secure online system which enables us to acknowledge students demonstrating our three R’s (Respect Self, Respect Others, Respect Property) and learning dispositions (brave, curious, independent, persistent, resilient). It also has the feature for parents to log in via an app to see which positive behaviours their child has been displaying.
Respectful Relationships
Respectful Relationships education was designed to be implemented in schools as a whole school approach to the primary prevention of gender based violence.
At St John’s this includes: teaching weekly Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons, eliminating gender stereotypes and labels and upholding our gender equality policy.
R U OK? Everyday
When our friends are feeling upset, frustrated or sad, it is important to ask them "Are You OK?" Asking this can make a big difference when someone is struggling. At St John's we want all of our students and staff to feel supported and let them know that we are there for each other. We celebrate R U OK? day during the year but also encourage everyone to ask this question every day.
When someone does need help, it’s often easier for them to talk to someone they know. That’s why at St John's Mitcham we talk through what to do if they are worried about someone.
Be You
Be You is a framework to support schools in making a positive difference to the lives of young people. Be You has been developed with the support of the Australian Government - Department of Health, Beyond Blue, the Australian Psychological Society, the Principal's Institute of Australia and Early Childhood Australia.
