3 Things to do Today to Start Next Year Well

This blog is a little like the image above, if you are reading it then you are probably the kind of person who is already going to start next year well. So…congratulations your mindset is already focused and next year is going to be great! The end of the school year is a great time […]
A Snapshot of Student Emotions in 2024

Life Skills GO has released preliminary findings from its 2024 annual report, providing valuable insights into the emotional landscape of Australian students. With over 3 million check-ins, the data offers a comprehensive look at how students are feeling and what factors are influencing their emotions. Key Findings What These Insights Mean These findings offer valuable […]
The Importance of Teaching Emotional Literacy in Schools

All Emotions Are Valid: Building Emotional Literacy and Self-Regulation in Schools Emotions shape how students interact with their world, engage in learning, and respond to challenges. For educators, understanding the role of emotions—and helping students understand this role—is key to creating a positive and supportive classroom environment. It’s not about categorising emotions as good or […]
3 Tips for Planning Wellbeing

Around this time of year, amidst the chaos of Term 4, we start to think about 2025. Enrolment numbers, staffing, classrooms, programs and …budgets. We recognise that our teachers are just hanging in there and that implementing anything new might just tip them over the edge. So, we make promises to ourselves that next year […]
The Compassion Conundrum

There are many educators in schools today wrestling with the tension between the pressures of hitting academic outcomes and fostering the harder to measure components of whole child development. As educators we know the value of nurturing attributes such as compassion but can sometimes find it difficult to articulate what we did and why it […]
Key Elements of an Effective Learning Space to help your Students Thrive

Setting up a welcoming and effective learning environment is key to helping students thrive. It’s not just about how the classroom looks, but also about how it feels and functions. A positive atmosphere supports both academic success and personal growth, and it’s all about creating a space where students feel comfortable and inspired to learn. […]
Nurturing Realistic Optimism

When we are nurturing students to think about the future it is tempting to jump to the extremes of the spectrum. For example, when we are talking to kids about their future prospects we swing to the optimistic extreme and say things like ‘You can be whatever you want to be!’, ‘Dream big’ and ‘The […]
Social Awareness: 3 ways to help children develop an essential life skill

Social awareness is a crucial element of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and includes essential life skills such as empathy, compassion, and understanding interpersonal dynamics. It involves the ability to accurately interpret social situations and empathise with others’ emotions, which plays a significant role in navigating social interactions effectively. Success in various aspects of life often hinges […]
Measuring Student Wellbeing: What do we want our wellbeing program to achieve?

Before we measure anything, including wellbeing, we need to define what it is we are measuring. In many systems and jurisdictions this is defined for them through frameworks and policy often resulting in highly jargonistic or ambiguous phrasing and measured through blunt instruments such as attendance, frequency of behaviour incidents and annual student surveys. While […]
Nurturing a Deep Sense of Belonging: For Our Children’s Mental Health

Belonging is crucial for well-being, happiness, mental and physical health, and even longevity. It provides a fundamental sense of purpose and meaning in life. Research consistently highlights that the absence of belonging is linked to stress, illness, reduced well-being, and depression. Feeling disconnected can be profoundly isolating, especially for children navigating their way through a […]