Health and Wellbeing

“Every child deserves a champion — an adult who will never give up on them.”

 Rita Pierson
Student Wellbeing at Newport Lakes Primary School
At Newport Lakes Primary School, we are committed to educating the whole child. We recognise that learning and wellbeing are deeply interconnected, and that students are best able to learn and thrive when they feel safe, supported, and valued.
 
Our approach aligns with the Department of Education’s FISO 2.0 model, which identifies wellbeing as a critical pillar of student success, and reflects our school vision to develop students who are resilient, responsible, respectful, and compassionate, within a safe and nurturing environment. Student wellbeing is central to everything we do, and we believe that supporting children’s social and emotional development is a shared responsibility between school, family, and community.

Positive Classroom Management Strategies (PCMS)

We implement the Department of Education’s Positive Classroom Management Strategies (PCMS) framework to create calm, safe, and inclusive learning environments across the school. PCMS supports staff to:
 
This shared, whole-school approach creates predictable classrooms where students feel secure, supported and ready to learn.

“True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are.”

Brené Brown

Health and Wellbeing Learning
Wellbeing is embedded across our curriculum from Foundation to Year 6. Each year level participates in at least one dedicated ‘Health’ lesson each week, providing students with regular opportunities to develop their social and emotional skills in a safe and supportive environment.
 
Our Health program includes learning from:
– Respectful Relationships
– Child Safe Standards
– CyberSafety Education
– The Resilience Project
– Bounce Back!
 
While ‘Health’ lessons look different across year levels, the focus on social and emotional learning remains at the heart of our work. In addition to our whole-school approach as a School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) school, we explicitly teach skills and strategies that support student wellbeing, underpinned by our five school values.
 
Respectful Relationships
Newport Lakes Primary School promotes healthy, respectful relationships through the implementation of the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) curriculum, developed by the University of Melbourne and distributed by the Department of Education.
 
The RRRR curriculum was developed in response to recommendations from the Royal Commission into Family Violence, which highlighted the vital role schools and early childhood settings play in creating cultures of respect and equality. Evidence presented to the Commission made clear that long-term reductions in violence require changes in attitudes and behaviours, and that school-based education is a powerful driver of this change.
 
Everyone in our community has the right to feel respected, valued, and safe. We explicitly teach students about respect, empathy, equality and healthy relationships, recognising that these skills are essential for life beyond school.
Family violence includes not only direct acts of violence, but also exposure to violence. Children are considered victims if they see, hear or are otherwise exposed to family violence, even when it is not directed at them. This may include:
Exposure to these behaviours is harmful and is a reportable concern.
The RRRR curriculum is mandated across Australia and embedded within the Victorian Curriculum from Foundation to Year 12. Newport Lakes Primary School continues to deliver this curriculum as part of our commitment to student safety and wellbeing.
 
Since commencing this work in 2017, Newport Lakes Primary School has been recognised as a lead school in the area of Resilience, Rights, and Respectful Relationships. We proudly continue to promote resilience, wellbeing, rights awareness, respectful relationships, inclusion, and positive gender norms, with the aim of supporting students to thrive and contribute to safe, respectful communities.
 
Student Voice and Agency
We strongly value student voice and believe that all students have the capacity to learn, lead, and contribute. Students are encouraged to share their perspectives, reflect on their learning, and play an active role in shaping their school experience. By fostering agency, we support students to develop confidence, responsibility and a strong sense of belonging.
Cyber safety
Being an eSmart school means we take a whole-school approach to supporting students to use technology safely, responsibly, and respectfully. We explicitly teach cyber safety and digital wellbeing, promote positive online behaviour, and have clear policies to guide the use of digital technologies. By working in partnership with families, we help students develop the skills and confidence to be safe, responsible digital citizens both at school and beyond.
A Whole-School Approach
Respectful Relationships is not a standalone program. It is embedded across classrooms, playgrounds, sporting activities, staff practices and community events. This whole-school approach supports positive learning environments and contributes to improved wellbeing, behaviour, relationships and academic outcomes. To support this work, we have invested in high-quality, age-appropriate resources, including rich literature that provides meaningful, real-world contexts for learning.

“Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”

John F. Kennedy

What Students Learn in RRRR
Students from Foundation to Year 6 engage in age-appropriate, evidence-based learning experiences drawn from the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships curriculum. These materials were developed by experts from Deakin University and the University of Melbourne and are used across Victorian schools.
The curriculum focuses on eight key areas of social and emotional learning:
Why This Matters
Research shows that respectful relationships education has a positive impact on students’ mental health, behaviour, engagement in learning, and relationships with peers and teachers. By teaching these skills early and reinforcing them consistently, schools play a critical role in shaping respectful attitudes and behaviours that extend beyond the classroom and into the wider community.
While we may all come from different backgrounds and hold different beliefs, we share the common values of respect, kindness, and care for one another. These shared values sit at the core of the Respectful Relationships curriculum.
 
Working Together
We value strong partnerships with families and encourage parents and carers to engage in conversations with their children about what they are learning at school. Families can access the full Respectful Relationships curriculum through the Victorian Department of Education.
Together, we are creating a school where every child feels safe, respected and empowered to reach their full potential.
Thank you for your continued support as we work in partnership to grow healthy, happy humans.