Student Well-being

Well-being is a fundamental element in fostering successful Student Engagement. The academic and social growth of students relies heavily on their resilience and overall well-being, which can be enhanced by safe, supportive, and respectful learning environments. Schools and the wider community alike share this responsibility of cultivating well-being within the student community. At Our Lady of Lourdes, we utilise various resources to promote and foster well-being among our community members.

Zones of Regulation - A framework to foster self-regulation and emotional control 

Zones of Regulation provide students with the language they need to name their feelings. It is organised into four zones - Blue, Red, Yellow and Green.

The Red Zone describes extremely heightened states of alertness and intense emotions. When in the Red Zone, a person may be elated or experiencing anger, rage, explosive behaviour, devastation, or terror.

The Yellow Zone is also used to describe a heightened state of alertness and elevated emotions; however, one has more control when in the Yellow Zone. A person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, the wiggles, or nervousness when in the Yellow Zone.

The Green Zone is used to describe a calm state of alertness. A person may be described as happy, focused, content, or ready to learn in the Green Zone. This is the zone where optimal learning occurs.

The Blue Zone describes low states of alertness and down feelings, such as when one feels sad, tired, sick, or bored.

To assist students in managing their needs in each zone, access is provided to a range of sensory tools. These tools are designed to be used for short bursts to meet students' emotional and behavioural needs so they can move back into the optimal learning zone - Green.

Support Programs

Secret Agent Society

Secret Agent Society (SAS) is a specialised social skills program that aims to build the knowledge and skills to interact appropriately with peers. The research-based program was developed over ten years ago and is delivered by specially trained staff in small groups, in particular for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. The program is supported through an at-home completion of an online social skills game, in which participants complete secret missions using their secret agent gadgets (social and emotional regulation skills). The sessions take place across a series of weekly sessions.

Life Education

Life Education provides exceptional preventative health education to our young people. Putting this belief into action alongside their mascot and Australian icon, Healthy Harold, Life Education is engaging more than over 700,000 children every year.

Mobile learning centres provide a unique learning environment, and trained educators use an innovative teaching and learning approach to engage students. Designed by health and education experts, constant revisions ensure relevancy and appropriateness for all students.

Rock and Water

Rock and Water is a highly acclaimed program designed to provide students with self-confidence, self-awareness, communication skills, body awareness and resilience, a growing awareness of themselves on their path to adulthood with a focus on confidence, self-awareness and self-control, practical anti-bullying strategies, communication skills, interpretation of body language cues, alternatives to aggressive verbal and physical responses, thinking and being in control, mental focus and boundary awareness.

The Rock and Water program is an evidence-based program.  The research concluded that Rock and Water showed efficacy in reducing bullying, depressive feelings and disengagement and reduced the acts of violence in schools.  Rock and Water is designed to reduce bullying in the classroom, increase self-confidence and self-control, and enhance better social and communication skills. This should reflect an increase in engagement in academic activities.