Mel Garwood - Deputy Principal - Makybe Rise Primary School
A mentally healthy learning community supports children and young people to experience positive mental health and wellbeing.
It’s important that educators are supported with the knowledge, skills, and resources to respond appropriately and effectively to student’s mental health concerns, as well as their own.
Located in the southern suburbs of Perth, Makybe Rise Primary is an inclusive, collaborative government school, committed to providing a learning environment where every child can learn, bringing a valuable contribution to the community.
Mel Garwood, Deputy Principal, believes the ‘school’s strong focus on the student's social and emotional wellbeing is demonstrated through a blend of complementary school-wide programs, including making wellbeing a priority for all staff and students.’
However, over recent years, there has been an increase in the number of students with mental health concerns and requiring the support of their School Chaplaincy and Student Services Team.
“We know that connectedness is a protective factor for children and when they feel a sense of belonging, they are more likely to engage in healthy behaviours, and be more successful academically.”
Makybe Rise, like many schools, had several programs and strategies in place to address the wellbeing of the school community before registering for Be You.
By registering to become a Be You learning community, Makybe Rise was able to access the support of their dedicated Be You Consultant to provide guidance in navigating the Be You tools and resources, supporting them to integrate and streamline their existing programs and strategies.
Mel believes, “Be You provided the framework that became the ‘missing piece’ joining the dots in our wellbeing strategy.”
Photography courtesy of Makybe Rise Primary School.
This whole-school representation of the Action Team provided a united voice in identifying and addressing the unique mental health and wellbeing needs of their learning community.
Within the Be You framework, the role of the Action Team is to provide a whole of school approach in making wellbeing a priority.
With the assistance of our school’s Be You Consultant, the initial step was to administer a mental health survey to obtain data from their families and staff. This, combined with data from our Friendly Schools Data, provided the school with a clear picture of student wellbeing and needs of the school community, and served as a starting point for the school to engage in appropriate wellbeing strategies that were responsive to the community’s needs.
Photography courtesy of Makybe Rise Primary School.
The Action Team continues to use the survey completed by staff, students, and families to:
- Gather valuable data to identify areas the school is doing well
- Review and track their progress
- Identify gaps and or areas to focus to ensure continuous improvement in their whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing
The focus areas identified for implementation included:
- Staff wellbeing addressing staff needs
- Establishing innovative partnerships to support student achievement and wellbeing
- Empowering student voice in school decision making processes and building students’ capacity for leadership by providing opportunities for them to thrive emotionally, academically, and socially
- Family Partnerships to provide greater support to families and carers by setting up a range of support service services to inform and empower them to support their children so that they could thrive
- Building a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing literacy, including developing a help-seeking culture
“It is important that educators within mentally healthy learning communities are equipped with knowledge, skills and resources to respond appropriately and effectively to children and young people’s mental health concerns.”
The next step was developing strategies to support implementing these priority areas.
Strategies included:
- Setting up an Action Team consisting of the members of the school’s community which included the wellbeing team, students and parents
- Implementing professional development supported by the wellbeing team incorporating Be You Professional Learning modules and internal sessions to introduce the Be You Mental Health Continuum and Be You BETLS Observation Tool
- Setting up family support coffee club, partnering with local mental health and wellbeing support service providers to raise the awareness of available services and promote help-seeking including how to navigate the referral pathways
- Celebrating achievements to make a point in celebrating and acknowledging students’ achievements
- Connecting with their Be You Consultant to help support and guide the school’s mental health and wellbeing initiatives
The Makybe Rise school community is committed to building a genuine sense of community partnership and belonging. Teachers, students, and families all enjoy the mutual respect and caring for the school community, which is essential for growth and learning.
Makybe Rise Primary School’s tips for getting started with Be You:
- Register your learning community.
- Identify members from your learning community to become part of an Action Team.
- Develop an Action Plan.
- Monitor, review and improve the action plan annual to meet the needs of your school.
- If you are not sure where start, your Be You Consultant is there to support your journey.
Reflective questions
- What does a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing look like at your school?
- What mental health and wellbeing initiatives and or programs do you have in place?
- Have you mapped how the wellbeing initiatives and programs in your schoolwork alongside one another?
- When developing your wellbeing plans, do you include the voice of students, school staff and extended school community?
- How do you determine your priority areas?
Connect with us if you’re not sure of where to start. Be You is here to provide support to all Australian primary, secondary and combined schools.
Resources to learn more:
Be You Professional Learning
Educator Wellbeing - Be You
Be You Surveys - Be You
Be You Mental Health Continuum
BETLS Observation Tool
What is an Action Team
What does an Action Plan look like