Student welfare

As a teacher or school leader, what are the mental health needs of your students? How do you promote mental health and wellbeing? What would a whole-school approach look like in your own context? Educational and Developmental Psychologist Dr Jane Kirkham shares details of an organisational tool called the ‘Wellbeing Tree’.

In yesterday’s reader submission, Dr Sunaina Sharma and Wendy Lang discussed their high school students’ anxiety over oral presentations. In this second article, the Ontario teachers share 4 strategies they’ve implemented to build the same speaking and listening skills while reducing the stress level.

After noticing their secondary English students were stressed by oral presentations (and coming up with ways to avoid them all together), Ontario educators Dr Sunaina Sharma and Wendy Lang gathered their feedback to find out more, then set about adjusting their teaching, based on a trauma-informed approach.

Early intervention is vital to connecting at-risk young people to appropriate support for their mental health. Co-designed with teachers, the Building Educators’ Skills in Adolescent Mental Health (BEAM) training program by Black Dog Institute was created specifically to empower year advisors and other education leaders to recognise and respond to the signs of mental ill health in their students.

‘We weren’t looking at expanding (the program) but the demand from the education sector was strong.’ Researchers behind the trial of a meditation program for primary students have just launched a new study focusing on principals and teachers. In this article, we find out more from Dr Peta Stapleton.

Excitement is growing across Australia for the fourth, biennial Trauma-Aware Education Conference to be held in Brisbane this year (Thursday 31 October to Saturday 2 November). Find out more in this article.

A survey of almost 20,000 young people, aged 15-19, has found nearly 1 in 10 respondents have experienced homelessness in the previous year. The report, released today, sheds light on some of the educational barriers these students face – including lower levels of engagement, inadequate spaces to do homework, and disruptions from frequently changing schools.

Rising teacher shortages and a global pandemic are just 2 of the major challenges schools have had to navigate over the last few years. Despite this, the latest PISA report highlights a handful of education systems that showed resilience during this period – including Japan and Lithuania. Teacher finds out more.

Age-appropriate consent education is a mandatory part of the school curriculum in Australia. In this Q&A, Dannielle Miller OAM discusses the importance of schools working alongside experts, and why it’s a bad idea to have boys and girls in the same space when delivering respectful relationships and consent sessions.

New analysis of Australian PISA data shows Australian students’ feelings of safety is lowest in areas of the school outside the classroom. In today’s article, Dr Erin Leif from Monash University shares some practical considerations for schools when reflecting on how they can support feelings of safety in all areas of the school grounds