Inclusion & Wellbeing
At Macclesfield Primary School, we have several important initiatives to support students as they navigate the tricky work of social connection, friendship, conflict and emotional growth.
School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS)
At Macclesfield Primary School, we aim to make it easy for students to learn, and easy for students to behave well. Through School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS), teachers model and explicitly teach the desired behaviours we want to become ‘normal’, and reinforce these through praise, acknowledgement and a token system. Consistency across the school is a hallmark of effective SWPBS practice and allows students to understand and meet the expected behaviours whilst also providing a clear framework for addressing less than desirable behaviour.
Across the year, we may celebrate milestones in achieving whole-school goals for SWPBS recognition that may include a whole school movie, sporting events or dress-up days.
Student Leadership/SRC
Our Student Representative Council (SRC) is made up of students from Years 3 to 6, providing an opportunity for student voice and leadership. SRC representatives meet regularly to discuss student-led initiatives, share ideas, and influence decisions that enhance school programs, facilities, and events. Through this role, students develop skills in communication, collaboration, and advocacy, ensuring that student perspectives are valued and acted upon.
Mental Health In Primary Schools (MHIPS)
Our school is proud to be part of the Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) initiative – a three-year program aimed at strengthening the way schools support the mental health and wellbeing of students, staff, and families. This role helps lead a whole-school approach to mental health. Over the three years, different focus areas will guide the work, including building staff confidence, embedding wellbeing programs, and developing clear systems to support students who may need extra help.
A big part of the MHiPS role is supporting staff in promoting good mental health in the classroom, building emotional literacy, and helping to identify and respond to students who may be experiencing social, emotional or mental health challenges. It also involves strengthening referral pathways and linking families with the right support when needed.
At our school, we’re building a strong wellbeing foundation by embedding Tier 1 programs across all year levels. These include UR Strong, Respectful Relationships, School-Wide Positive Behaviour, and Let’s Talk. These programs focus on friendship skills, emotional regulation, respectful behaviour, and creating a safe, supportive environment for all. As part of this work, we’re also exploring new ideas, like developing a wellbeing library hub where families, teachers and students can borrow books related to emotions, mental health, friendships and more. We regularly share wellbeing tips and ideas in our newsletters including different articles to simple wellbeing activities you can try at home.
Respectful Relationships
This mandated curriculum runs through all Victorian Schools (including High School), with the intention of providing a consistent, evidence-based structure for building emotional and social skills to navigate relationships. Topics covered in Respectful
Relationships include:
Emotional Literacy
Personal and Cultral Strengths
Positive coping
Problem Solving
Stress Management
Help seeking
Gender Norms and Stereotypes
Positive Gender Relationships
Lessons have been developed by a team of educators across the state to ensure they are relevant and appropriate for students across the year levels.
More information about the program can be found here: https://www.vic.gov.au/respectful-relationships
Given the breadth of the Respectful Relationships curriculum, we have chosen to implement additional resources to support students navigate the complex human world.
Body Bright
Body Bright is a curriculum across the primary school that supports students to develop positive, healthy relationships with body appearance, to reduce body-appearance teasing, and to challenge stereotypes that promote idealistic and unobtainable body appearances. This curriculum is delivered by teachers for one term every year. Our work with Body Bright began in 2024. More information on Body Bright can be found here:
https://butterfly.org.au/school-youth-professionals/about-our-programs/bodybright/
URSTRONG
URSTRONG is a friendship program that supports students to build friendship skills that lead to positive relationships. We know the world of friendship can be complex and sometimes overwhelming for children, particularly as they begin to build images of self concept based on friendship and peer feedback. The introduction of URSTRONG supports our students by ensuring we have consistent, student friendly language to tackle friendship challenges across the school, and lessons and resources to facilitate healthy dialogue around friendship. Families can sign up to URSTRONG for free here: https://urstrong.com/parents/
Foodbank Support
We are a registered School Breakfast Club. We order and stock a large variety of healthy food options for all students, from breakfasts and snacks to lunches. Each classroom has a daily supply of fresh fruit and veggies, with the generous support from Foodbank.