Wellbeing & Support Services

Wellbeing is one of the key pillars of our WAVES priorities. Our extensive Student Services team supports the personal and academic wellbeing of our students. The team includes:

• Head of Junior School
• Head of Senior School
• Head of Years 7 & 8
• Head of Years 9 & 10
• Head of Years 11 & 12
• Home Group Teachers/Tutors
• Curriculum Services
• Learning Enhancement Specialists
• School Psychologist
• Careers Counsellor
• School Chaplain
• School Nurse

Student Services form Education Support Groups (ESG) for students with very particular needs. The ESG works in partnership with parents to assist the student and provide a personalised program of support. At the Junior level, diagnostic testing is undertaken twice yearly to ensure early identification of the need for extension or additional attention and to monitor the impact of existing support programs. The testing program is maintained when individual students require continued support into Senior levels. To ensure that each student’s potential is optimised at secondary levels, the Education Support and Careers programs are integrated.

Mindfulness

In addition to our pastoral care staff, we have implemented a whole school approach to Mindfulness. There is a large body of compelling evidence that identifies Mindfulness as an effective approach to stress reduction, and improving performance. By teaching Mindfulness, we aim to give our students the mental tools they need to cope with stress and provide them with a cognitive tool to improve their ability to focus, and ultimately, their academic performance, at school and beyond.

Our approaches to Mindfulness include meditative practice as a way of focusing on the present and finding a calm period in the day, but they go well beyond meditation. We incorporate Mindfulness lessons into the curriculum at each year level in different ways, from simple breathing exercises to brain theory and mindful leadership.