Student Wellbeing
The physical, intellectual, moral, social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing and development of our students at St Martin’s is extremely important to their success both now and in the future. At St Martin’s, we highly value the wellbeing of our students and provide a safe and supportive environment which celebrates inclusion and models values which are consistent with the Gospel teachings of Jesus. We see wellbeing as fundamental to successful learning.
Children and young people who are happy, confident and able to establish meaningful relationships are better placed to achieve positive learning outcomes.
Student Wellbeing in Action
Social and Emotional Learning
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process through which we learn to recognise and manage emotions, care about others, make good decisions, behave ethically and responsibly, develop positive relationships and avoid negative behaviours (Elias et al. 1997)
The Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) Program is used to teach the five core competencies of SEL:
Self awareness
Social awareness
Self management
Responsible decision making
Relationship skills
Positive Behaviours
Teachers at St Martin’s acknowledge positive behavior and apply set protocols across the school for inappropriate behaviour. Students know both the expectations and consequences of school and class rules.
Restorative Practices
At St Martin’s we use Restorative Practices as part of our philosophy of promoting positive behaviours. The philosophy and practice of restorative justice is to promote resilience in both the one who is harmed and the one who causes harm. It is about helping young people become aware of the impact of their behaviour on others through personal accountability and being open to learning from conflict situations. (Marist Youth Care, Sydney 2004)
Student Action Teams
The purpose of the Student Action Teams is to ensure every student at St Martin’s has a say in making our school a safe and better place.
Better Buddies
St Martin of Tours became a Better Buddies School in 2010 with the focus on a buddy system for Prep and year 6 students. It is now a whole-school initiative designed to teach and reinforce the positive behaviours and values which underpin social competency. The Better Buddies Program is an initiative of the Alannah and Madeleine Foundation.
