Student Engagement and Well-Being

We are currently undergoing a review of our Student Engagement and Well-Being policy and looking to appropriate programs that will continue to support our work in this area. 

We are currently undergoing a review of our Student Engagement and Well-Being policy and looking to appropriate programs that will continue to support our work in this area. The ‘You Can Do It’ program has established a firm foundation to build upon as we continue in our collective effort to optimise the social, emotional, and academic outcomes of our students.

 

Our current policy includes statements about building a safe and supportive school environment that is essential to student engagement and wellbeing. It also highlights the Elements of Student Engagement:

  1.  Behavioural engagement – participation in education: including academic, social and extracurricular activities
  2. Emotional engagement – reacting emotionally within the school and the classroom and how connected the students are to the school
  3. Cognitive engagement – being intrinsically motivated to learn 

There are many aspects of this ‘old’ policy that will form the basis of the review and the development of an updated policy.

 

Cybersafety will be an inclusion in this updated policy. This is an area that has become extremely relevant as the ‘digital age’ has revolutionised our means of communication, research and social interactions. We were heavily involved last year in a pilot program called ‘Growing Up Digital’ (GUD) - supported by commonsense media who preview and review aspects of media and their suitability for children. There is also a strong focus as part of this program on the responsibility that exists to monitor the use of technology and aspects of cybersafety in the home. At school cybersafety is high on our agenda, hence our involvement in such programs as GUD and ‘eSmart schools’. We are nearing completion of the requirements to be classified an eSmart school. You may have seen the eSmart posters around the school. An initiative of the Allanah & Madeline Foundation, ‘eSmart Schools’ is a behaviour-change framework that guides the introduction of policies, practices and whole-school change processes to support the creation of a cybersafe or ‘eSmart’ environment.

 

There is also a growing awareness, both locally and internationally, of the harmful impact bullying can have on all members of the school community. Part of this review will also look at the anti-bullying policies and strategies that are currently in place.

 

There are many programs available that address issues of resilience building, social and emotional learning, mindfulness, cybersafety and bullying prevention. However it is simply not enough to just ‘do’ one of these programs. It is vital that as a community we demonstrate and model behaviours that are desirable in establishing and maintaining a culture where all students, teachers and community members feel safe, supported and secure.  As part of this culture we must continue to adopt a zero tolerance toward all forms of bullying. Please feel free to communicate any thoughts you may have on this topic and these can be passed on to the Education Committee who will oversee the development of the Student Engagement and Wellbeing policy.

 

The links provided below give some clear definitions and most helpful information about student wellbeing, bullying and social and emotional learning.

 

The Alannah and Madeline Foundation

Bullying. No Way!

Bully Stoppers

Cyberbullying

Geoff Agnew

Principal