Wellbeing

At our school, student wellbeing and learning go hand in hand. We want every student to feel safe, included and ready to learn. Whether your child needs help with their mental, emotional, social or physical wellbeing, we are here to help them thrive at school and in daily life.

How we support student wellbeing

Supporting each student’s mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing is part of everyday school life.

We do this through:

teachers who help students feel welcome and included
access to school counsellors, school psychologists and specialist staff
programs that support health, social skills, attendance and positive behaviour
help for students who are new or changing year levels
clear expectations for behaviour and respectful relationships
staff who get to know each child and work closely with families
developing health care plans for students
open communication about wellbeing and support.

Visit Our principal and staff to learn about our wellbeing and specialist support staff.

Some of our wellbeing initiatives include:

Various evidence-based programs are incorporated to assist with our students’ social and emotional wellbeing such as Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL), Be You and Zones of Regulation.

CARE Groups

At Yarrawarrah Public School, social and emotional development of students is seen as essential in ensuring that students are ready to learn. To teach and build social skills and emotional health, every student belongs to a CARE (Caring for And Respecting Everyone) Group. Each group is facilitated by an adult and meets regularly throughout the year. The groups focus on skills such as resilience, mindfulness, self-awareness, and creates opportunities for students from different grades to build friendships and support networks.

Mentor Staff

All students select their choice of staff to become their mentor for the year. These staff members will check in regularly with their mentor students.

Wellbeing Box

Students have access to a wellbeing box. Students can use this to contact their mentor staff member if they need support with anything.

K-6 Buddies

As part of our Kindergarten Orientation program, children are assigned a senior student to be their buddy. The senior students will meet and get to know their buddy when they commence Kindergarten. They are a good support for Kindergarten students throughout the year.

Gotcha 4 Life

Yarrawarrah Public School is fortunate to have been selected as a pilot school to deliver mental fitness strategies, workshops, programs, and resources in order to cultivate three evidence-based mental health protective factors : emotional adaptability, social connectedness and help-seeking. We call these building your emotional muscles, looking after your village, and never worrying alone.

Positive Behaviour for Learning

At our school, we use Positive Behaviour for Learning – a whole-school approach for creating a positive, safe and supportive school climate where students can learn and develop. Our whole school community works together to establish expected behaviours and teach them to all students.

The YPS school rules are:

Be Safe
Be Respectful
Be an Active Learner

Yarrawarrah Public School explicitly teaches the values of Responsibility, Excellence, Acceptance,
Cooperation and Honesty (R-E-A-C-H). These values underpin all aspects of our school expectations.

You can view YPS procedures and policies, including our School Behaviour Support and Management Plan (SBSMP) and Learning Support Policy, on our Policies and Reports page.

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) brings together the whole-school community to contribute to developing a positive, safe and supportive learning culture. The framework assists schools to improve social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for children and young people.

When PBL is implemented well, teachers and students have more time to focus on relationships and classroom instruction. Students and staff benefit from:

reduced problem behaviour
increased time focused on instruction
improved social-emotional wellbeing
positive and respectful relationships among students and staff
support for teachers to teach, model and respond effectively to student need
a predictable learning environment where staff and students know what is expected to deliver effective practices that can be sustained over time

The PBL framework supports schools to identify and successfully implement evidenced-based whole-school practices that enhance learning outcomes for children and young people.

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Assemblies and Awards

K-6 assemblies are held every second Friday at 2.30pm in the school hall. Special awards are presented to students. You will receive an email from your child's classroom teacher if they are receiving a bronze award at the assembly. Parents and friends are most welcome to attend these assemblies. Details are in the parent portal calendar and weekly What’s on.

Each year we hold a number of special assemblies. These include events such as ANZAC Day, Easter, NAIDOC, Education Week, Grandparents Day and Christmas. These are always publicised well in advance and we encourage parents and friends to attend.

Our Annual Awards Day is held in Term 4. This is an opportunity for parents and friends to join us in celebrating the year’s achievements and recognise special student achievement. You will be contacted if your child is receiving a special award for this occasion.

Our whole school reward system focuses on our school values (REACH - see Student Wellbeing section). Students are responsible for keeping and trading in their awards at the office to achieve the next level of achievement. Here is a run down of the rewards and awards:

Fast and Frequent

Burrabucks are small tokens awarded to students in class and on the playground for positive behaviour. Burrabucks are placed in the PBL rewards tube in the colour of the student’s assigned house team (Bradman = green, Freeman = red, Thorpe = blue). The team that received the most Burrabucks in the term participates in the PBL rewards day at the end of the term to celebrate their achievement.
Lucky Chance cards are awarded to students who are demonstrating the school values. Lucky Chance cards need to be completed with the student’s name and class and put into the letterbox on the admin building near the lost property box. At our fortnightly assemblies, one ‘Lucky Chance’ winner is drawn out of a hat and they receive a free lunch order from the canteen.

School Award System

Achievement Cards are handed out by teachers in class for outstanding class work. Once a child has 4 Achievement Cards they can be handed in at the office to be converted into a Bronze Award.
Bronze Awards are also handed out by class teachers fortnightly in our regular K-6 assembly. Once a student has 4 Bronze Awards they may trade them in at the office for a Silver Award.
4 Silver Awards can be traded at the office for a Gold Award. Gold Award winners have their photograph taken and put in the newsletter.
2 Gold Awards results in achieving the highest level of our Awards System - a Principal's Honour Award badge. Principal’s Honour Award winners are photographed with the principal and celebrated in the newsletter.