Well-being focus

Our well-being approach at RPS

Rutherglen Primary School’s commitment to building strong relationships between staff, students and their families is aimed at fostering a culture of mutual respect and understanding.  At the start of each year, classes develop shared understandings about our values and school-wide expectations that help them to collaboratively build a safe and supportive classroom environment.  Social skills and values are regularly discussed and reflected upon throughout the year both within classes and as a whole school.

A weekly one hour lesson focusing on student’s social-emotional growth and needs is timetabled across the school from Foundation-Year 6.  Our school draws on RRRR – Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationship learning materials to develop students’ social, emotional and positive relationship skills. 

The Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) learning materials cover eight topics of Social and Emotional Learning across all levels of primary and secondary education: Emotional Literacy; Personal Strengths; Positive Coping; Problem Solving; Stress Management; Help Seeking; Gender and Identity; and Positive Gender Relationships.

Students are also supported through an integration of social skills, conflict management and friendship skills through the ‘Social Stencil’ program.

Our approaches support students to develop socially, emotionally and academically; supporting them to reach their potential as learners and to make positive choices that allow them to achieve their aspirations and contribute to our broader community.

Well-being groups

Every second Friday alternating with our whole school Assembly, we run our cross-age, Foundation to Year 6  well-being groups.

The aims of our well-being groups are:

• For students to build relationships with teachers and students from other year levels and classes
• For students to support each other, work as a team and recognise the strengths they each bring to the group
• To build mentorship skills of our older students and develop new friendships
• To build student’s social skills, empathy and respect
• To have fun!

Well-being programs and support

The well-being of every one of our students and their families is of paramount importance to us here at RPS.   In supporting our students we offer a range of programs, activities, mentoring and individual interventions both at school and through external services to ensure that we support students’ wellbeing and physical needs, as well as fostering a sense of community and belonging for all.

It is important that our children feel safe, happy and supported and to help us achieve this we provide the following

• Breakfast Club
• Chess Club – Wednesday & Thursday lunchtimes
• Library and Construction Space
• Respectful Relationships
• Boys to the Bush
• Social Stencil
• PLAY Program
• Counselling and other support services
• Circle Time
• Mindfulness
• Parent programs run by Gateway Health and other external agencies