Mental Health and Well-Being
Whole School Wellbeing Program Launched in 2022!
After three years of extensive behind-the-scenes work, the KSHS Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee is proud to announce the launch of our whole-school Wellbeing Program. The process began with a National Education Initiative to promote the inclusion of MHWB as part of the school curriculum. In collaboration with Be You in 2019 we undertook surveys of staff, students and caregivers; the results of these surveys led to a series of discussions with staff on strengths identified and areas for improvement. The MHWB committee then combined this feedback with an audit of the pastoral care activities already in place at the school (over 70 each year!!) and an audit of specific year groups and targeted areas of need as identified by student services, staff and senior leadership. The committee was then able to write a curriculum targeting the specific needs of our students and using resources from ReachOut.com.
Parents and caregivers can sign up for free, to access some great resources such as: ‘how to help your teenager feel more confident’ ‘dealing with disturbing online content’ or identifying ‘your parenting superpower’.
Many studies have shown strong links between social and emotional wellbeing and learning outcomes for students. Our school has a unique structure in our Mentor (form) classes in that after settling into Year 7, students are with the same Mentor group and teacher from Year 8 through to Year 12. This allows us to build a strong rapport with our students, help them to build connections with each other and foster a sense of belonging in our school community.
The MHWB program is designed to have three activities per term, during our extended Mentor classes on Tuesday, to learn these skills. Each year group have a focus for the term, with the tasks increasing in complexity to suit their developmental needs. An overview of Term 1 and the focus for each year group can be seen below.
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Term 1 FOCUS |
Skills to Develop |
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Year 7 |
Belonging |
Ice-breakers and social skills to make new friends.
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Year 8 |
Belonging |
Connecting to classmates and identifying sources of support for mental health issues. |
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Year 9 |
Belonging |
Developing confidence in connecting with others and why it is so important for wellbeing. |
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Year 10 |
Pathways |
Identifying existing skills, interests and talents. Linking these to finding their ideal job. |
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Year 11 |
Self-Management |
Goal-setting, getting organised and how to prioritise tasks.
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Year 12 |
Self-Management |
A focus on mindfulness, self-care and stress management skills. |
We are very excited about this pilot program and look forward to bringing you updates of the focus skills and progress for each term.
Aundraêa Stevens
Convenor of the MHWB Committee