Wellbeing at CCPS

Introduction

Wellbeing is an integral part of what we do at CCPS.  There is so much happening in this area and we needed a forum to make sure families know what is available to support them and their children when they need help.

My name is Kerry Bates, and my title is Wellbeing Assistant Principal.  I work on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and my main role is to make sure students get the support they need at school.

Sarah Tappy is also working in a Wellbeing role for two days a week in the role as CCPS Wellbeing teacher. She is currently setting up a wellbeing space outside the Year 1 rooms – watch this space for updates on this!

Available Supports

There are a number of supports that are able to be accessed at CCPS and for our first blog, we thought that outlining some of these might be useful for you:

Student Support Services

Every Department of Education school in Victoria has access to a number of Student Support Services.  We have access to Speech Therapists, Psychologists, Social Workers and Visiting Teachers (who can assist students with vision, hearing or physical issues).  Unfortunately, there are not enough of these specialists to provide immediate service, and after referral there is usually a waiting period.  These professionals can conduct assessments that provide valuable information to families and teachers of how best to meet the needs of individual children.  There is no cost to the families, but there is no ongoing support provided for counselling or speech therapy.

If you think a referral to SSS service would be beneficial to your child, please discuss with their teacher.

Counselling/Psychology support

We have access to a counsellor for one day a week.  Yewende/Wendy provides 1-1 counselling with students who have a Mental Health Plan – this ensures that there is a Medicare rebate, and students are able to access up to 10 sessions via Medicare.  This support is really valuable for students to discuss issues with her and work out ways to manage anxiety, anger, or any issues that they face.

If you think a referral to SSS service would be beneficial to your child, please discuss with their teacher.

School Community Liaison Officer – African Communities

An exciting project is just starting at CCPS – Ayuel Mading has just been appointed as a School Community Liaison Officer to work with our families from African communities.  He will be at our school every Monday – on other days he will be working at Cranbourne East Secondary College and Narre Warren P-12.

His role will develop over time, but the main aim of the program is to enable CCPS to provide targeted support so that young African people feel more connected and supported in their place of learning.

Returning to School Anxiety Free

Michael Grose is a parenting educator who founded an organisation called Parenting Ideas.  They have some wonderful resources for parents and educators and this article was published recently, entitled Returning to School Anxiety Free.  It has some great tips for parents and carers about how to work through the anxiety that may arise in some children as they return to school.  It is definitely worth reading:

https://www.parentingideas.com.au/blog/returning-to-school-anxiety-free/

Please be aware that your child might find the return to school exciting, exhilarating, scary, frustrating, annoying, fabulous, or a myriad of other emotions.  We all need time to settle back in and embrace this new normal!

Kerry Bates and Sarah Tappy