Student wellbeing

At Auburn Primary School, promoting a positive climate for learning for ALL students is a key priority and focus in our Strategic Plan.

Students who have their wellbeing and mental health well supported have a greater capacity for learning, and we aim to build this through looking at areas such as:

• Self-awareness: Identifying and recognising emotions; recognising personal interests and strengths; maintaining a well-grounded sense of self-confidence.
• Self-management: Regulating emotions to handle stress, control impulses, and motivating oneself to persevere in overcoming obstacles, setting and monitoring progress toward the achievement of personal and academic goals; expressing emotions appropriately.
• Social awareness: Being able to take the perspective of and empathise with others; recognising and appreciating individual and group similarities and differences.
• Relationship skills: Establishing and maintaining healthy and rewarding relationships based on cooperation and resistance to inappropriate social pressure, preventing, managing, and constructively resolving interpersonal conflict; seeking help when needed.
• Responsible decision-making: Making decisions based on a consideration of all relevant factors, including applicable ethical standards, safety concerns, and social norms; the likely consequences of taking alternative courses of action; evaluation and reflection.

These skills are explicitly taught, modelled and reinforced through daily Circle Time, Mindfulness, Gratitude and social skills activities. Our partnership with the Resilience Project also provides resources and activities that support students to build resilience, empathy and kindness.

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support

2020 marks the beginning of Auburn Primary School’s journey into the implementation of School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS).

SWPBS is a framework that brings together school communities to develop positive, safe, supportive learning cultures and assists schools to improve social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for children and young people.

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

• increased respectful and positive behaviour
• increased time focused on instruction
• improved social-emotional wellbeing
• positive and respectful relationships among students and staff
• increased adoption of evidence-based instructional practices
• a predictable learning environment with improved perceptions of safety and increased attendance.

Restorative Practises

When relationships break down, Auburn Primary School uses the Restorative Practise approach to support the repair of these relationships.

Restorative practice is a strategy that seeks to repair relationships that have been damaged, including those damaged through bullying. It does this by bringing about a sense of remorse and restorative action on the part of the offender and forgiveness by the victim.

The rationale behind this approach is that when offenders reflect upon their harm to victims: 

• They become remorseful and act restoratively. 
• Practitioners (staff) can focus on the unacceptable behaviour of offenders rather than their moral character.
• This can lead to healthier interpersonal relations among members of the school community and more effective learning.

Student Supports

We recognise that at times students, and their families, may need a little extra support for a range of different reasons. This may include:

• anxiety
• social skills
• learning
• challenging behaviours
• coping with major life changes/trauma

At Auburn, we have an ongoing partnership with OnPsych Psychologists, to provide support to students and their families, and Dee Wardrop & Associates Speech and Occupational Therapists, who work alongside our teachers, with small groups and individual students as required.

For certain cases, we are also able to access assessments and support through the Department of Education Student Support Services branch.

Our Assistant Principals are responsible for the co-ordination of wellbeing/welfare supports.