The wellbeing of our students is paramount
Get to know our staff
Our staff are qualified education professionals that put your child’s learning and wellbeing needs first.
- Staff that support all
- Living out our values
- Inclusive and professional
- Uplifting students
- Working with parents and services
- Ongoing professional learning
Our wellbeing programs
We offer students a range of wellbeing support and programs.
- Social & Emotional Learning programs
- Student Buddy System & Strong Transition Programs
- Restorative Practices including daily circles.
- Wellbeing Teams & Support Workers
- Positive Behaviour For Learning & Mindfulness Program
- Centacare Counselling, Programs & support
Supporting students through their learning journey
Prioritising Wellbeing
We consider our students spritual, social, physical and emotional wellbeing in all that we do.
Whole School Wellbeing
We offer students a range of programs that bolster their wellbeing while giving back to the community.
Confidential Counselling
Our onsite counsellor supports our students and families.
Working with Parents & Services
We collaborate with parents and services to ensure our students are happy, healthy and learning.
Book in an Appointment Today
How Does it All Work Together?
Mater Dei’s Wellbeing approach aligns with the CEDWW Wellbeing Framework and provides a proactive, strengths-based approach that nurtures quality relationships that minimise inappropriate behaviour. The school’s daily and routine life and how people interact with one another are significant determinants of each person’s sense of self-worth, belonging and wellbeing.
How do we foster student wellbeing?
The explicit and systematic teaching of social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies to students has been shown to decrease emotional distress and behavioural problems and increase academic outcomes. SEL helps students manage emotions, set goals, get along with others and make responsible decisions.
The PBL framework and Restorative Practices, including restorative circles and conversations, provide the ideal vehicle for teaching identified SEL competencies. Schools that teach SEL within a prevention-focused continuum of supports, such as PBL, have reported reduced rates of bullying, an increased sense of school safety, improvements in students’ emotional regulation, and greater staff and student well-being.
What is SEL?
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions. SEL advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation. SEL can help address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools and contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities.
SEL Competencies:
The CASEL wheel describes what SEL looks like in practice. The five
broad, interrelated areas of competence have been embedded in our K-6 approach and
informs our schoolwide program choices:
- Self-awareness,
- Self-management,
- Social awareness
- Relationship skills, and
- Responsible decision-making
RP and SEL are both used to improve school climate by strengthening student-to-student, staff-to-staff, and student-to-staff relationships.
(Augustine et al., 2016; Brown, 2017; Cavanagh, Vigil, & Garcia, 2014; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009)
SEL aims to teach children the social and emotional skills required to manage themselves in
the school environment. Disruptive behaviour is reframed as an opportunity to learn. The
approach is not about delivering strict consequences but about making the students realise
the impact and implications of their actions on others.
APPROACHES
What is Positive Behaviour for Learning?
Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) is a whole-school framework that promotes positive behaviour across a school and helps schools develop safe and supportive learning environments.
Mater Del implements the PBL approach to make sure all students are explicitly taught the expected behaviours and establish clear and consistent boundaries. Staff take a proactive, preventative approach to ensure all students receive the appropriate level of support to help them to be successful at school. Student outcomes are monitored so identified students can receive additional support when needed, and/or access intensive support to enable them to engage successfully at school and in the community.
What are our restorative practices?
School wide restorative practices nurture students by providing them with meaningful opportunities for improving social and emotional skills, such as recognising and managing emotions, developing caring and concern for others, making responsible decisions, establishing positive relationships and handling challenging situations in a constructive way. Restorative practice aims to restore damaged relationships between students, helping them operate effectively in the classroom playground and giving them the tools to implement these
strategies across any area of life.
All staff members at Mater Dei Primary school work together to establish and maintain a positive school climate. All adults communicate, teach, and model the positive behaviours they expect students to exhibit in the classroom and school throughout the day. By setting expectations, teaching students to meet those expectations and regularly reinforcing appropriate behaviours, schools see fewer incidents of inappropriate behaviour and more time spent on teaching and learning.
PBL includes learning and applying restorative practices such as correcting behaviour calmly and in a manner that demonstrates that the student is safe and supported at school, viewing inappropriate behaviour as an instructional opportunity and using consequences that promote student self-reflection and change for the betterment of their community.
What is trauma-informed practice?
A whole school wellbeing framework supports schools to become trauma-informed by increasing awareness of the effects of trauma on students’ learning, wellbeing and behaviour, including attendance, engagement, relationships with others, academic achievement and behaviour. This awareness includes being mindful of avoiding re-traumatisation and looking beyond the immediate or ‘surface’ behaviours.
Mater Dei Primary uses the trauma-informed approach which provides universal support to all students and are sensitive to individual needs, addressing student needs holistically and working in partnership with caregivers and agencies to provide evidence-based intervention for students who are experiencing difficulties associated with complex trauma.
PBL fosters safe, positive, consistent and predictable environments, which are foundational to a trauma-informed approach. Challenges in relation to behaviour, mental health, academic success and social issues are best addressed using an integrated approach focused on the whole child.
Research shows that many students have experienced or are still experiencing early trauma. The high prevalence of trauma underlines the importance of a whole-school approach, which assumes that all students will benefit from support, taking into consideration emotional, academic and behavioural responses. In addition, an awareness amongst all staff of the prevalence and effects of trauma, and the importance of a positive school environment, is the foundation for effective trauma-informed support.
