Student welfare

Teachers can now help students better understand what influences their own and others’ mental health and wellbeing with the help of a new resource. ACARA has teamed up with Beyond Blue and Headspace to develop the Curriculum Connection online content.

End of year exams and assessments, particularly for senior school students, can be a time of heightened stress for many. Linda Williams – Senior Psychologist and Clinical Lead at youth mental health service ReachOut – shares new survey findings on students’ exam stress, and how teachers can continue to help them through this difficult period.

The winners of the 2023 Teacher Awards were announced earlier this month. In this article, we speak with the winner of the Cultivating an Inclusive and Positive Culture Award, Dr Todd Zadow from St Margaret’s Berwick Grammar, about how he ensures his classroom is a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environment for all students.

Many teenage students are not getting enough sleep each night. New research from the University of South Australia has analysed the sleep habits of boarding and day students to see how they differ, and which group gets higher quality sleep. Find out more in this article.

The winners of the inaugural Teacher Awards were announced this month, and over the coming weeks we’ll be sharing their stories. In this article, we speak with Kate O’Donnell from GOAL College, winner of the Improving Health and Wellbeing Award, sponsored by Bank First.

Many students face personal challenges and hardship outside the school grounds, and this can have a negative impact on their health and education. Data published in 2023 explores 2021 Census data to give insight into the estimated number of people experiencing homelessness. Here, we share some of the data relating to those under the age of 18.

We know that e-cigarette use among adolescents in Australia has quickly become a pressing issue. So, how can educators empower them to say no to vaping, and work towards the prevention of e-cigarette use among young people? In this episode, we speak to the team behind the Unpacking Vaping in Schools Project about their findings so far.

Building strong relationships and creating a positive learning environment is conducive to improving student outcomes. Humanities teacher Andreas Katsanos shares a step-by-step process he undertook to refine his own classroom practice in these 2 areas.

‘[Do] teachers need to be trained therapists? A resounding no. Teachers can provide the best support to students impacted by trauma by developing positive relationships, implementing evidence-informed classroom practices, providing effective instruction and managing the classroom environment so that all students, including those affected by trauma, can thrive,’ Dr Lorna Hepburn writes in our latest reader submission.

In this episode of School Improvement, we’re joined by Angeline Aow and Sadie Hollins, 2 of the authors of Becoming a Totally Inclusive School: A Guide for Teachers and School Leaders. We’ll be talking about what we mean by Total Inclusivity, and exploring the Continuum on Becoming a Totally Inclusive School – a 6 stage framework to help schools and educators move from theory to practice.