Wellbeing in the classroom

Students spend a large amount of time at schools and in class. A teacher may be the first person to notice that a student needs extra support. They might notice signs of an emerging mental health concern. Students often trust their teacher to help them.

Teachers can:

form positive relationships with their students
promote student voice and agency
hold high expectations of all students
create a safe, welcoming and inclusive classroom.

Teachers also support students to develop social and emotional skills. They can also help students develop a positive attitude about self, school and civic engagement. These skills and attitudes support academic engagement.

If you’re concerned for a student’s mental health or wellbeing, follow your school processes for making a referral to the wellbeing team. The wellbeing team can work with the student and, where appropriate, parents to determine if support is needed.

Seek immediate support from a school leader if it is urgent. Call 000 if there is immediate risk of harm to the student. Do not manage the situation alone.

If you become aware of an incident, receive a disclosure or form a reasonable belief that a child has been abused or is at risk of abuse, you must follow all procedures for responding to and reporting abuse, including the Four Critical Actions for Schools.

Supporting student mental health and wellbeing

There are many ways teachers can support the mental health and wellbeing of their students. Many of them are things teachers do on a day-to-day basis, with every class and every student. Some students may need tailored or additional support.

It is also important that you take care of your own mental health and wellbeing.

As a teacher you aren’t expected to be a therapist. But you do play a key role in supporting student mental health and wellbeing. Evidence shows teachers can have a profound impact on the mental health and wellbeing of their students.

You can do this by:

building strong and positive relationships with your students
reducing stigma surrounding mental health and substance use issues
promoting help-seeking and assist students to access support early
encouraging students to listen to and check in with each other
reinforcing that talking to a trusted adult about a friend isn’t betraying trust, but an important part of looking after each other
referring students to the school’s wellbeing team.

Before having a sensitive conversation with a student

When considering a sensitive conversation with a student, ask yourself:

Is this conversation within my role?
Do I feel equipped to have this conversation?
Is the time and environment appropriate?
Do I know my school’s referral pathways and processes?
Do I understand conditional confidentiality?

Tier 1: School-wide mental health and wellbeing promotion

Universal interventions to help create a positive, inclusive, and supportive school climate.

Tier 2: Early intervention and cohort specific mental health support for students

School mental health support for students with specific needs or vulnerabilities.

Tier 3: Targeted and crisis mental health response in schools

Support for individual students with complex mental health needs or in crisis.

Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM)

The Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM) supports excellence in teaching and learning. It also supports teachers to create safe and inclusive classrooms.

Trauma informed resources

The HITS Trauma Informed Factsheets and Resources have a focus on engagement, wellbeing, readiness and continuity for learning in children and young people affected by community level trauma.

NIP early intervention approach (headspace)

An important way teachers can support student wellbeing is by using NIP it in the bud! which is an early intervention approach developed by headspace. For more information, refer to the SAFEMinds resources for schools.Bottom of Form

The SAFEMinds Safe and Healthy Minds Brief Intervention Kit can also support secondary students to become better problem solvers.

Orygen Early Intervention Guide

The Youth mental health early intervention guide (PDF, 186KB) sets out early warning signs, actions and supports for students.

Smiling Mind digital care packs

Smiling Mind has created Digital Care Packs to support the mental health of kids aged five to 12. Each pack includes brief learning tools as well as activities for children to use within the home or school environment. The tools will help students manage anxiety and promote positive mental health.

Feeling It: Mindfulness resources for secondary school students

We have partnered with Smiling Mind to bring students mindfulness resources and activities to help them stay positive and engaged in their education.

Diverse Learners Hub

The Diverse Learners Hub provides evidence-based advice, resources and guidance on meeting the learning and wellbeing needs and aspirations of diverse learners.

Teaching for wellbeing

The Victorian Curriculum

The Victorian Curriculum supports teaching skills that provide strong foundations for mental health and wellbeing of all students in schools.

Personal and Social Capability

This involves students:

learning to recognise and regulate emotions
developing empathy for others and understanding relationships
establishing and building a framework for positive relationships
working effectively in teams and developing leadership skills
handling challenging situations constructively.

Health and Physical Education

Health and Physical Education enhances students understanding of their own and others' health, safety, wellbeing and physical activity participation in varied and changing contexts. The curriculum focuses on supporting students to develop the understanding and skills they require to make healthy and safe choices that will boost their own and others' health and wellbeing.

For more information:

FUSE Teacher Learning Areas - resources aligned to the Victorian Curriculum
Personal and Social Capability Rationale and Aims - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
Health and Physical Education Rationale and Aims - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
Abilities Based Learning and Education Support (ABLES) - for use with students operating at Levels A-D in the Victorian Curriculum
Digital Assessment Library - free, high quality online classroom student assessments, aligned to the Victorian Curriculum F-10.

Social and emotional learning (SEL) can help students learn the skills needed to build resilience. SEL can help them learn to manage their emotions, behaviour and relationships with others. It involves giving students opportunities to learn and practice social skills.

Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships

The Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) learning materials have been designed for teachers in primary and secondary schools to develop students’ social, emotional and positive relationship skills.

The RRRR learning materials cover eight topics of Social and Emotional Learning across all levels of primary and secondary education:

Emotional Literacy
Personal Strengths
Positive Coping
Problem Solving
Stress Management
Help Seeking
Gender and Identity
Positive Gender Relationships.

Resources for social and emotional learning

Respectful Relationships resource kit - gives schools Victorian school strategies and tools to implement a whole-school approach to Respectful Relationships.
Building resilience in children – a literature review for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) - information on social and emotional learning at all levels, including for the classroom.

Intercultural curriculum area

The Intercultural capability curriculum enables students to explore their own and others’ cultural practices and cultural diversity in Australian society.

The curriculum promotes mutual respect and social cohesion and helps students to develop vital skills for living and working in a multicultural world.

Education

Updated 23 October 2023