Mental Health and Wellbeing
Kinross Primary School has well-established programs and preventative strategies in place to support the mental health and wellbeing of our whole community. We place a high level of importance on promoting positive mental health and acting promptly when any member of the community is in emotional distress. These efforts were recognised by the Western Australian Commissioner for Children and Young People as a finalist at the 2020 WA Mental Health Awards.
KPS has established a Parent’s Guide to Mental Health. This guide is designed to demonstrate the approaches KPS takes to promote mental health in school and also includes many tips for parents in how to assist their children with anxiety, school refusal, emotional regulation and friendship issues. There is also an appendix with contacts for mental health support.
Act Belong Commit
Participating in the “Act Belong Commit” initiative, we encourage positive Mental Wellbeing with the simple message to ACT BELONG COMMIT. Students are reminded of this message by signage around the school and in every classroom. Activities and clubs are promoted at each assembly and include Jump Jam, Jogging Club, Resource Rescuers (recycling initiative) Garden Gurus and Lego Club. The school aims to provide as many ways as possible to encourage our students to keep fit, develop interests and skills or help our environment.
Zones of Regulation
Kinross PS uses The Zones of Regulation program as our main social-emotional framework. This begins formally in pre-primary and is referred to each year a student is at our school. The Zones of Regulation program develops awareness of feelings, energy and alertness levels while exploring a variety of tools and strategies for regulation, prosocial skills, self-care, and overall wellness. This curriculum provides us an easy way to think and talk about how we feel on the inside and sort these feelings into four coloured Zones, all of which are expected in life.
Meet Teddy – Our School Dog
Teddy is a two-year-old poodle crossbreed. He lives with our Phys. Ed. specialist, Mrs Kaminski. Teddy has been coming to Kinross since he was a puppy and is rostered into classrooms across the school. He has a beautiful temperament and enjoys spending time with students who are feeling sad or lonely. If you see Teddy, be sure to say hello!
Respectful Relationships
In 2021, Kinross Primary School commenced involvement in a program devised by the West Australian Government and Starick; a charity supporting women and children escaping domestic violence. The Respectful Relationships program has been developed in response to the alarming statistics of gendered violence against women in Western Australia. In the school context, the focus is on strengthening a culture of respect in our community. Staff have received professional learning opportunities to help analyse how educators can advocate against stereotypes and promote gender equality.
Wellbeing Week and Special Days.
Kinross Primary School annually acknowledges several important days throughout the school year to promote respect, good health and inclusivity. These include: The National Day of Action Against Bullying, Harmony Day, R U OK Day, Day for Daniel, Outdoor Classroom Day and NAIDOC week.
During Term 4 each year we celebrate a week of Wellbeing activities. There have been Act Belong Commit activities, a “Mind and Body-a-thon” competition with daily challenges, Parents and carers providing lunchtime fitness activities and whole school incursions such as Constable Care and Strength Heroes.
