Student Wellbeing is an important element in our mission to graduate students who are socially, emotionally, and academically the best that they can be.  

We believe that students who feel valued, listened to, and are equipped with the tools to navigate the world around them, will be better able to self-manage as well as operate socially by making positive choices and problem solving.  Wangala Primary School provides a safe and engaging place for all in our community through the following approaches:

– Utilising the ‘School Wide Positive Behaviour Supports’ (SWPBS) ‘Positive Behaviour Matrix’ to frame the expected behaviours across our community, and ensuring students both understand and own these positive behaviours through a weekly campaign where each positive behaviour is unpacked and explored

– Reinforcing positive behaviours through the SWPBS process of rewards where students earn Wangala tokens which can be used to purchase experiences

– Engaging in regular ‘Yarn-Circle’ discussions where students unpack different issues, experiences, how these make us feel and the ways to deal with these

– Arming students with a toolbox of strategies to assist when issues arrive, such as the framework of ‘Using Your WITS’ where you can ‘Walk away’, ‘Ignore’, ‘Talk it out’ or ‘Seek help’ when things go wrong

– Weekly ‘Rights, Resilience, and Respectful Relationships’ lessons that develop students social, emotional and positive relationships skills as well as developing positive gender norms

As a ‘Berry Street Education Model’ (BSEM) school, Wangala Primary School staff are trained to successfully implement a whole school model of personal wellbeing strategies and the development of positive relationships between all in the community through the five BSEM domains of;

– Body – focused on developing strategies for self-regulation of a physical or emotional response to a stress trigger

– Relationships – emphasising the need for the development of positive relationships between students and teachers which helps students to become or remain focused in their learning

– Stamina – encompassing strategies for building students’ personal resilience so that they can remain on task and develop ‘persistence’ in their learning

– Engagement – requiring teachers to use many strategies to engage students in their learning to further their academic achievement and success

– Character – focused on understanding one’s personal strengths and using these strengths positively at school and within the wider community

Wangala Primary School is fortunate to have a Wellbeing Officer who works closely with students who may be facing social or emotional challenges.  Our Wellbeing Officer works with students one-on-one and in small groups to help facilitate relationship strategies.  Guidance is provided to our community to engage with internal and external supports.