Student welfare

If your students don’t ask questions or seek clarification in class, does it mean they understand, or that they’re not comfortable speaking up when they’re unsure about something being taught? The latest PISA 2022 international insights report explores student use of learning strategies, motivation for learning and self-confidence.

We know, from a decade of Teacher reader survey feedback, how important the topic of wellbeing in schools is to educators. In this article, we find out how the winners of the Teacher Awards 2024 Improving Health and Wellbeing Award are improving student wellbeing in their context.

Improving students’ academic achievement goes hand-in-hand with supporting their health and wellbeing. In Episode 56 of our School Improvement podcast series, we’re focusing on grief and loss education. We’ll be hearing about an evidence-based program that’s helping a high school in regional New South Wales support its students with these issues.

Educators refer to multiple forms of student data to help them plan out the next steps in teaching and learning, including informal feedback, classroom conversations and written assessments. As Dr Anne Knowles explains in this reader submission, student drawings could also be a useful addition to your toolkit.

In this series, we look at some further readings available on a particular topic, including open access research papers from various online databases, and Teacher archive content you might not have come across yet. This month, we’re looking at the topic of Health and PE.

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.