We prioritise social and emotional learning to support confident, resilient learners.
Wagaman Primary School prides itself on its strong Social and Emotional Learning culture. Social and Emotional Learning is about learning how to manage feelings, build friendships and solve problems. These skills help students cope with challenges and develop resilience. Children with well-developed social and emotional skills find it easier to manage themselves, relate to others, resolve conflict and feel positive about themselves and the world around them.
Our school is a proud Be You learning community. Be You provides a national framework that supports educators to build mentally healthy learning environments. Through Be You, we strengthen our whole-school approach to wellbeing, ensuring students feel safe, connected and supported. This framework complements our explicit SEL programs and underpins the way we promote positive relationships, emotional regulation and a strong sense of belonging across the school.
We build a strong sense of community through our values and agreements.
At Wagaman Primary School, we work towards building a strong sense of community through our school values of Kindness, Curiosity and Persistence.
Our Agreements are based on the Tribes Teaching and Learning Community process. This approach helps create positive, inclusive classroom environments and is an effective way to improve behaviour, relationships and learning. Our school agreements are:
- Attentive Listening
- Mutual Respect
- Appreciations
- Participation
- Personal Best
Students at Wagaman are supported to honour these agreements in all that they do. They learn collaborative skills and participate in regular community circles or yarning circles, which strengthen communication, relationships and the development of positive classroom communities.
We are committed to creating a safe, supportive and mentally healthy school community.
In 2013, Wagaman Primary was awarded national recognition as a KidsMatter school. KidsMatter Primary was a mental health and wellbeing framework that made a significant positive difference to the lives of Australian children. In 2017, KidsMatter evolved into Be You, a national initiative supporting schools to create mentally healthy learning communities. To find out more, please visit the Be You website: www.beyou.edu.au.
Each week, all classes across our school participate in explicit wellbeing lessons. Students are taught protective factors that strengthen their mental health and reduce the likelihood of developing mental health difficulties.
The Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum (KS:CPC) is delivered in all classes at Wagaman Primary School. This evidence-based curriculum teaches students the knowledge, skills and understandings they need to recognise abuse, stay safe and seek help when needed. KS:CPC supports students to develop self-awareness, resilience, emotional regulation, problem-solving and help-seeking behaviours, as well as the skills required to form safe and respectful relationships. The curriculum is taught by trained educators and is integrated across the year to ensure learning is age-appropriate, consistent and supportive. KS:CPC forms a key part of our whole-school commitment to wellbeing, safety and creating a learning environment where every child feels secure, confident and supported.
We empower students with practical skills to navigate challenges with confidence.
Rock and Water is a long-standing and valued program at Wagaman Primary School. The aim of the program is to strengthen students’ self-awareness, self-confidence and social functioning by teaching them to adopt either a ‘rock’ or ‘water’ attitude when responding to life situations. Lessons are delivered through engaging games, physical activities, discussions and reflection.
Through the program, students learn to express themselves verbally and emotionally in appropriate ways and develop a strong and positive sense of identity. They also build an understanding of physical boundaries and personal safety, along with strategies to regulate their emotions and behaviour. Rock and Water further supports students to recognise and manage aggressive tendencies, both in themselves and in others, helping them to respond to challenging situations with confidence and self-control.
Rock and Water plays an important role in supporting student wellbeing and building respectful, resilient learners across our school.