Student Wellbeing in Middle Years

A student’s physical, social and mental well-being greatly impacts on their ability to learn, achieve and embrace new experiences. At Swan Valley Anglican Community School, strong relationships and a high level of care are evident for all to see. In the Middle Years, you will see strong and meaningful relationships between students and their teachers; you will see thriving relationships between students and you will see close connections with parents. Indeed, all the research tells us that when schools, parents and communities work together in partnership there will be greater outcomes for all young people.

Working within a strong pastoral care model, we develop and nurture the social, emotional and spiritual well-being of the students in Years 7 to 9. We want them to have a sense of belonging to this thriving Christian community; we want our children to be strong, resilient and compassionate leaders of tomorrow, who care about this world and want to change it for the better.

The role of the Pastoral Care Group (PCG) teacher is central to our care of students at Swan Valley Anglican Community School. Seeing their PCG teacher twice a day, this relationship is significant to both students and their parents.The PCG teacher also delivers a diverse, dynamic and relevant Pastoral Care Program. Units in this program include goals setting and study skills; mental well-being; protective behaviours; conflict resolution and cyber-safety.

Each Pastoral Care Group is aligned with a House. Each House has a House Leader who supports the PCG Teacher and students who have more specific pastoral needs. A Head of House oversees the entire pastoral program to ensure the very best programs and care are provided to each and every child. The final elements to our pastoral system are the School Chaplain and School psychologist.

The Four House Groups

To enable greater vertical cohesion, the school is grouped into four Houses: Irwin, Moore, Stirling and Waylen. Competitions at various times in the year seek to enhance the sense of belonging to a student’s House and rivalry is unashamedly encouraged! The four Houses are named after outstanding Western Australians, Frederick Chidley Irwin, George Fletcher Moore, Sir James Stirling and Dr and Mrs Waylen

House Activities

The Secondary School House system plays an integral part in the pastoral care program at Swan Valley Anglican Community School. House Leaders are the driving force behind the House program, which includes inter-house competitions, assemblies and our merit system.

House activities foster healthy competition between the four Houses, whilst forming a team bond across all year groups. House activities are varied to create a fair playing field including quizzes, sporting and art competitions and come in various forms such as day carnivals or activities which occur within our Pastoral Care Group class time.

The School’s merit program is tied into the House system with House points allocated for students who display our core values through positive behaviour, service and performance.

Houses compete for the right to hold The Leadbetter Cup (winning House) and the House Spirit Trophy at the conclusion of each academic year.

In the Middle Years we ensure we are responsive to the needs of our students. We regularly invite outside speakers into school to address the Middle Years community. In recent months, Paul Litherland from Surf Online Safe, Elevate (study skills), Youth Focus (mental health) and Armed for Life (resiliency) all communicated essential and relevant information to the Middle Years students.

House Collage 2014

  

Resources

 

YouthFocus Resources

YouthFocus list of Phone Resources

YouthFocus Parent Mental Health Puzzle

W: youthfocus.com.au

 

Headspace Resources

W: www.headspace.org.au