Wellbeing
At St Joseph’s we strive to ensure that students are equipped with the skills, strategies and opportunities to grow into a socially, emotionally and spiritually well person. Our school has a range of programs and curriculum based learning across all year levels to ensure that our school community is a well community.
Breakfast Club
Nourish to Flourish Breakfast Club is a weekly initiative in which students can attend school from 8am every Thursday morning to share breakfast with their peers. Breakfast Club is well attended by students from all year levels. Nourish to Flourish Breakfast Club operates on the generous annual donations from local businesses from the Benalla community.
Social & Emotional Learning
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.
Students at St. Joseph’s participate in weekly SEL lessons, which are based upon the content from the Victorian Curriculum Personal and Social Capability.
We utilise a variety of evidence based programs and resources to support student learning in SEL:
Rights Resilience and Respectful Relationships (RRRR)
The Respectful Relationships program supports schools and early childhood settings to promote and model respect, positive attitudes and behaviours. It teaches our children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence. It is all about embedding a culture of respect and equality across the entire school community.
Bounce Back
Bounce Back! is a whole-school program for years F–6. It uses blended learning and provides teachers with practical strategies to explicitly teach wellbeing and resilience skills to help students ‘bounce back’ and cope with the complexity of everyday life.
Each level contains the most recent evidence-based research plus ten curriculum units with teaching strategies and practical resources.
Lunchtime Activities
Each lunchtime students are provided with a quiet, structured environment to play while supervised by school staff. Students are invited to attend the Library Lunchtime Activities which has a range of activities organised by staff, a quiet space and sensory support for any student who may require it.
Cooking to Connect Program
The ‘Cooking to Connect Program’ was introduced to St Joseph’s in 2023 as a program to foster student wellbeing through teaching practical life skills. It gives students the opportunity to build relationships through cooperative and hands-on practice and is a chance to connect with others through the joy of cooking.
Buddy Program
The Buddy program helps to promote relationships and support between older and younger students through regular collaboration between their classes. This fosters a sense of whole-school community and creates friendships that enable students to bond more closely with their school.
Each year our new Prep students are buddied within a small group of their Prep peers, and a small group of Grade 6 students. During the Prep Transition period, Year 6 Buddies play an important role in familiarising Preps with the playground, ensuring they feel secure at recess and lunchtime, and assisting them in understanding routines and practices in the playground. The buddy program continues during the second semester.
Garden Club
The St Joseph’s Garden Club is held during afternoon recess each Monday. This extracurricular activity provides students with the opportunity to connect with nature and foster a love for gardening. Under the guidance of our dedicated teachers, Mr. French and Miss Perry, students actively participate in tending to our school garden. Together, they cultivate a variety of herbs and vegetables that supports our Cooking to Connect Program. This hands-on experience not only promotes sustainability and environmental awareness but also instils valuable life skills in teamwork, responsibility, and the joy of nurturing living things.