Student Wellbeing is more than a seminar or a workshop, it is more than a 'session' or a breathing space to calm and get back to the classroom. It is a culture of fostering and nurturing young minds to build resilience and provide tools that encourage healthy choices for young people to thrive through adversity.

Good foundations and building a culture of purpose, value and hope helps students navigate the twists and turns through their school years and beyond. At SMG, we believe that holistic approach to student wellbeing is the best way to work with the students, families and staff to achieve life-long positive results. Setting strong foundations, grounded in Pastoral Care, enables school communities to build sustainable outcomes for their students over the course of their education.

Virginia Lockwood is emplyed as the Pastoral Care worker at Port Augusta West Primary School. 

A message from Virginia:

I am passionate about young people and assisting them to find strategies and tools to help them navigate the tricky bits in life, there are lots at times. The kimochi’s are a great tool as the children relate to the different personalities and problems each character faces.

I have found Dan Siegel’s Hand Model of the brain is useful particularly for boys as they like to know how things work, showing them what is happening in their brains helps them understand what is happening in their bodies – this has worked with other students and has even continued through to high school with some. There are some great video clips and books that are great resources for teaching this.