Eltham High School | Wellbeing Eltham High School | Wellbeing

Wellbeing.

Student Wellbeing.

Here at Eltham High, we are aware that student wellbeing is the foundation of all teaching and learning.

We know that if students feel emotionally regulated, their mind and body will be at ease and optimal learning will occur. Further, there will be times that students will require extra wellbeing support due to various reasons, and we are here to support them.

Our Student Services team have the experience and dedication to work across a range of adolescent presenting issues. We are skilled in engaging and building trusting relationships with all young people and then providing a therapeutic intervention that builds their resilience and capacity to engage with their learning environment. We focus on building their self-determination, self-acceptance, and hope. All these abilities will allow a young person to build upon their capacity to navigate through High School.

At Eltham High School we aim to foster a help seeking culture, sending the message that there is no shame in being helped and that Student Services is a safe and non-judgmental space that will provide them with wellbeing support. Students are advised to make a counselling appointment through their allocated practitioner but are welcome to drop in if they require immediate support.

Our support is very much focused on the presenting issues and needs of the student. Moreover, we value working in a systemic manner with the young person’s family. Therefore, we encourage parents and carers to maintain contact with the school throughout your young person’s journey to maintain our collaborative approach. This allows you as parents to understand what support is being provided, what their wellbeing needs are, and how we can work together to achieve and maintain their psycho-social and educational goals.

Parents/Carers can contact the Student Services team for a confidential discussion:
Call Eltham High School Reception on (03) 9430 5111 or email the Student Services Leader, Madeline Gaitanis: Madeline.Gaitanis@education.vic.gov.au

Eltham High School|Wellbeing
Eltham High School|Wellbeing
Eltham High School|Wellbeing
Eltham High School|Wellbeing
Eltham High School|Wellbeing
Eltham High School|Wellbeing
Eltham High School|Wellbeing
Eltham High School|Wellbeing

Berry Street Education Model

Over a two year period all teaching and Education Support staff at Eltham High School have been engaging in the Berry Street Education Model. The decision to engage with the model came about in response to the impact of COVID-19, and the model’s alignment with the philosophy of Eltham High School.

The model is an educator-designed and evidence-led framework that empowers schools to create classrooms where every student is ready to learn and able to thrive.

The model helps schools to help students by:

  • understanding the impacts of trauma on child development and the ability to learn
  • creating a supportive and trauma-informed positive education classroom
  • bolstering student-teacher relationships
  • instilling strengths-based practices across the school.

The course is arranged around the five Berry Street Education Model domains:

  • Body – How to help your students to regulate their stress response, de-escalate in school and classroom contexts and provide strategies for increased focus.
  • Relationship – Positive relational classroom management strategies that promote on-task learning
  • Stamina – How to create a culture of academic persistence in your classroom by nurturing student resilience, emotional intelligence and a growth mindset.
  • Engagement – How to motivate students with strategies that increase their willingness to learn
  • Character – How to harness our values and character strengths approach for effective learning and for future pathways.

The five domains correspond with child-development capacities that each student must grow in order to be ‘ready to learn’. When considering how to best meet the needs of students, we focus on building self-regulatory ability and relational capacity, and then nurture wellbeing and willingness to engage in learning.

Eltham High School | Wellbeing

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