The Song Room’s Social and Emotional Learning through the Arts program is a place-based, trauma-informed, and strengths-based program that uses the arts to explicitly teach social and emotional skills. At Wantirna Primary School in Melbourne’s east, this arts-based social and emotional learning has become a key part of the school’s wellbeing strategy.

Research shows that higher wellbeing in young people is linked to strong connections with others and well-developed social-emotional skills. The Social-Emotional Wellbeing (SEW) survey is a valuable resource for schools aiming to understand and support the wellbeing of students. Find out more in this article.

Schools play a critical role in supporting student mental health and promoting wellbeing initiatives. The Australian Council for Educational Research has produced the Wellbeing Program Guide – a comprehensive catalogue of 233 wellbeing programs designed to help teachers and schools find suitable programs that are evidence-based, locally relevant, and practical for educators to implement.

Adolescence is a period of rapid development. To support students through various challenges during this time, educators need effective tools to help them understand how they’re coping – and how they can do so more effectively. Find out more about the Adolescent Coping Scale for Schools (ACS-S) in this article. 

‘Teachers and parents can help to foster social-emotional functioning among students, which is important for their healthy development more broadly.’ In this reader submission, Rebecca J. Collie and Richard M. Ryan share findings from their recent study that examined the role teachers and parents play in relation to students’ social-emotional competence. 

Arts Therapists integrate their knowledge of arts and psychotherapy to facilitate healing and growth, using art materials and techniques alongside psychological principles. ANZACATA is the regulatory body for all qualified Art Therapists, and in this article, they share more about art therapy and how it can help people.

‘We just want to make sure that the students are gaining their confidence … and really opening their eyes to what opportunities are out there at our doorstep’. We speak with Dripstone Middle School Principal Nektaria Pikoulos and Angela Sheedy from Charles Darwin University about a partnership that’s not only supporting student career pathways, but their health and wellbeing too.

Australia’s year 4s achieved the country’s best-ever result in the latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Alongside the year 4 and 8 assessments, students, teachers and principals at participating schools completed a questionnaire – those findings have been released today.

‘If we want to set the next generation up to thrive in an increasingly digital world, then we need real-world strategies that are created with them, not just for them.’ In today’s article, the Alannah & Madeline Foundation share why they embraced the voices of children and young people when co-designing their online safety and digital literacy education initiative, eSmart.

In early 2025, all 9 of Zoos Victoria’s Asian elephants were relocated to a state-of-the-art habitat at Werribee Open Range Zoo. Students visiting Werribee can now observe herd dynamics up close, with educators guiding inquiry into animal behaviour, welfare science, and the complex ethics of human-animal relationships.