Mental Health and Wellbeing

At Kinross Primary School, we consider a focus on positive mental health and wellbeing to be a critical component of a supportive learning environment. This focus encompasses the students, their families, our educators and support staff. Empowering members of our school community to develop the skills they need to maintain positive wellbeing is an ongoing priority for our school.

These efforts have been recognised by the Western Australian Commissioner for Children and Young People in recent years.

WA Mental Health Awards – 2023 WINNER and 2020 FINALIST.

At Kinross Primary School we aspire to provide practical information and support to any member of our school community experiencing emotional distress or low wellbeing.

Kinross Primary School Parent Guide to Kids Mental Health

This guide has been developed by our Student Services Team to demonstrate the approaches Kinross Primary School takes to promote mental health. It also includes many tips for parents in how to assist their children with anxiety, school refusal, emotional regulation and friendship issues. An appendix includes a range of contacts for mental health support.

Please click on the link below to download the guide.

Parents Guide to Mental Health

A broad range of approaches are employed to promote positive mental health and wellbeing throughout our school community. This includes:

• Preventative strategies in the classroom – A whole school approach.
• Supportive strategies managed by our Student Services Team.
• Community engagement and a sense of belonging

1. PREVENTATIVE STRATEGIES IN THE CLASSROOM – A WHOLE SCHOOL APPROACH

The delivery of quality programs that support student development socially and emotionally begins at the classroom level. It is our belief at Kinross Primary School that consistency is the key and therefore all our preventative strategies and programs are undertaken as a whole school approach.

Zones of Regulation

The Zones of Regulation curriculum teaches students an easy way to think and talk about the way they are feeling. These feelings are sorted into four coloured zones. Tools and strategies are explored that will develop a student’s ability to understand and regulate any heightened emotions in a safe and appropriate manner.

URSTRONG Friendology 101

Friendology 101 is a friendship skills curriculum that helps children establish and maintain healthy relationships. Lessons teach the students strategies to manage conflict with kindness and increase their overall resilience. The children can earn tokens for a Friendology prize draw at any time throughout the school day for demonstrating friendship or kindness to others. To support the classroom lessons, friendship skills are revised at whole school musters and the winners of the regular Friendology prize draws are announced and celebrated.

Protective Behaviours

Protective Behaviours is a personal safety program that teaches children skills and strategies to identify and respond to a range of unsafe situations. Every October the school also participates in Australia’s largest child safety education and awareness day, Day for Daniel.

Our School Values

Care, Compassion, Acceptance, Accountability, Respect, Resilience and Excellence. Using the acronym of CARE – Students and the community find it easy to remember our core values. We regularly explore how each value looks, sounds and feels in our daily lives during classroom or buddy activities and at whole school musters and assemblies. Each term the students are encouraged to reflect upon these values and set personal goals in response.

Buddies Program

Each class is paired with another to conduct buddy activities every fortnight. The students love having a big or little buddy each year and activities vary from collaborative art projects, assistance with using technology, sharing stories they have written or simply reading a book together. Activities are also often linked to a school value or special days and events occurring throughout the school year.

Act Belong Commit Initiative

The ACT BELONG COMMIT initiative is an effective way to regularly remind students of strategies that can support their wellbeing. Every whole school assembly incorporates ideas for ways the students can remain physical active, formulate connections in the community and make meaningful commitments to grow and thrive.

The school endeavours to provide a broad range of before school and lunch time activities that cater for diverse interests. Activities and clubs include Jump Jam, Jogging Club, Free Play Friday Fitness, Resource Rescuers (recycling initiative), Garden Gurus, Lego, STEM and board game clubs.  The outdoor environment has been enhanced to include nature play opportunities and a variety of playground equipment. Giant games like chess, sand toys and block building have been added to the play areas to enrich the opportunities for students to engage with peers and develop skills and interests.

Teddy, our School Dog

Teddy first came to our school as a puppy during COVID and has been a well-loved member of our school community ever since. Belonging to our Physical Education Teacher, Teddy can visit classes upon request and can frequently be found having a quick snooze under a teacher’s desk throughout the day. Seeing Teddy has brought a smile to many a teary face during times of distress and often provides a calming distraction.

2. SUPPORTIVE STRATEGIES MANAGED BY OUR STUDENT SERVICES TEAM

The Student Services Team

To support classroom teachers, students and their families, we have a Student Services Team comprising of the Principal, Associate Principals, the School Psychologist and a School Chaplain. This team meets weekly to discuss and plan appropriate interventions for any student identified by teachers and families as experiencing learning difficulties that places them at educational risk. The team will then organise meetings with parents, caregivers and classroom teachers to discuss and plan appropriate interventions. Guidance and support are provided to obtain referrals or seek assistance from outside agencies such as medical or allied health professionals whenever necessary.

Sensory room

Each classroom includes a small retreat or calm down area for students experiencing heightened emotions. However, it is sometimes more effective for students in distress to have some time away from their classroom to self-regulate their emotions. Therefore, a sensory room has been in located in the office area where students can retreat to, if needed. The leadership team are then available to counsel and provide support as necessary to assist the child to return to class feeling positive and ready to learn.

School Chaplain

School chaplains make a valuable contribution to the social and emotional  well-being of school communities across Western Australia. This might include support and guidance about ethics, values, relationships and social and emotional issues, and helping students engage with the broader community. They are part of the school’s pastoral care team.

The School Chaplaincy Program is voluntary and is supported by the Kinross School Board, Kinross P&C and wider community. YouthCARE is the organisation that our school works with to implement the Chaplaincy Program. Di Sanders is our School Chaplain and works here every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 9am-3pm. Through a triage process, Di engages with students and parents across the school. She is also available for drop-ins at recess and lunchtime. Parents are invited to contact the school leadership team or Di if they have any issues or concerns they would like to discuss, or if they require support in any way. Di also runs small group or class programs for students on a needs basis.

Meet Di, our YouthCARE Chaplain

3. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND A SENSE OF BELONGING

Working together with our wonderful P & C and School Board, we are always seeking ways to help our families feel connected to the school. The primary communication platform used by the school is CONNECT. Events and information are regularly posted in the whole school CONNECT space. Classroom teachers post weekly updates on their classroom CONNECT pages with information about the current curriculum teaching and learning focus.

The school endeavours to host a variety of community events that have included: Anzac Dawn Service or Anzac Service, Christmas Carols Evening, Community Picnics on special days like Harmony Day, Sporting and Colour Run events.

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. Each year has a different focus. 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.

Respectful Relationships

Respectful Relationships is about embedding a culture of respect and equality across our entire community, from our classrooms to staffrooms, sporting fields to social or community events. Therefore, respectful communication and conduct is expected from all members of the school community. Student, parent and staff codes of conduct have been established to ensure everyone is aware of their accountability when interacting with others. Students and staff revise their code of conduct at the commencement of each year. The parent code of conduct can be found in the COMMUNITY tab of this website and the student code of conduct can be found in the POLICIES tab.

Staff Wellbeing

The wellbeing of our staff has been a critical consideration in our overall strategy to build a supportive learning environment for our students. We work hard to provide a caring workplace for our staff and conduct regular team building and social activities to foster camaraderie and a sense of fun and belonging. It is heartening to often hear visitors comment on the lovely vibe of our school as a result.