As we believe in nurturing the whole child, we invest in mindfulness programmes, resources and professionals. Each week, we come together for Wellbeing Wednesday’s in the afternoon, which offer students and their families the choice between yoga classes, singing lessons, art activities and whole-body awareness practices.
At Kerry Street Community School, we promote children’s agency and recognise that our students have a right to make choices and decisions. All students contribute to creating classroom and whole school agreements. Students are actively involved in making decisions, solving problems, working in teams and taking shared responsibility in a variety of settings:
- Classroom agreements
- Class meetings
- Kids’ Council Meetings
- Student RAP working Group
- Community Gatherings
You can find out more about how Health and Wellbeing is supported at Kerry Street Community School by downloading the support document below:
Wellbeing Coordinator
The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a central and fundamental responsibly at Kerry Street Community School.
We believe that being proactive about supporting and promoting mental health and wellbeing in our students is vital in today’s world and the world of the future. Life has its ups and downs. Students who are socially and emotionally competent are better able to navigate through these times with a positive attitude and optimism. Furthermore, development of these skills support students well beyond their Kerry Street journey.
Our Wellbeing Coordinator is employed two days a week under the National School Chaplaincy Program and works cooperatively with staff to support wellbeing.
Lisa Farrell began at Kerry Street in 2023 in the Wellbeing Coordinator role.
Lisa is a natural born free spirit, having travelled to over 30 countries and lived aboard twice she has a passion for culture, diversity and cultivating a growth mindset.
Lisa has worked in human services for over 13 years in a variety of different roles, all which have one thing in common – empowering and supporting individuals to build their emotional resilience and capacity to achieve their goals and lead a fulfilled life.
Lisa has qualifications and experience in Community Services, Career Development, Training and Assessment, Psychology and has recently completed a Women in Leadership program through Women in Leadership Australia.
Lisa is an experienced facilitator, trainer, youth worker, mentor and coach. She brings a wide range of skills and life experience to this role and strives to build a community where all individuals are accepted and celebrated. She utilises a Trauma Informed Approach in all interactions and is passionate and curious about Attachment Styles and the impact that they have on children, young people and adults in their day to day lives.
Lisa looks forward to working with the Kerry Street community to continue to build a community that promotes a safe, always growing, supportive and joy filled environment.
Intervention and Support Specialist
At Kerry Street we recognise all students are unique and intentionally incorporate services and strategies to support the individual needs off all our students. We know that students may require additional support to provide academic intervention and/or extension beyond regular classroom differentiation.
Support is provided based on individual need and conversations with classroom teachers. This support is typically focused on numeracy and literacy and can expand into other curriculum areas. Collaboration between the classroom teachers, parents, school leadership, and the Intervention and Support Specialist is key in determining the type of intervention needed to successfully support student progress and confidence.
Sarah Weaving is Kerry Street’s Support and Intervention Specialist. Sarah completed a Bachelor of Science in Zoology followed by a Post Graduate Certificate in Junior Education in the UK and is currently studying a Post Graduate Certificate and Masters in Counselling. Sarah has worked with children from Pre-Kindy to Year 7 across a variety of schools and found herself particularly drawn to Independent schooling. Sarah has a passion for authentic inquiry learning, play-based and place-based pedagogy.
I love to learn new things, be reflective in my practice and maintain my curiosity and wonder in the world. It is a privilege to be part of a community and to support the inclusion of all children in their own learning journey.
Sarah aims to create a nurturing and safe environment for children by building calm, kind and trusting connections and considering unique needs and strengths with empathy and curiosity.
I am fascinated by how we foster positive mental health and self-regulation so children can be confident, creative and curious.
Sarah has a passion for sharing stories and texts, across the curriculum and encourages reading for enjoyment for pleasure. Visual and critical literacy are special interests for Sarah and using texts to build empathy and social-emotional learning.
I like to be playful with words and let every child explore the joy of sharing poems, stories and information.
Kids’ Council
The Kids’ Council is designed to give students a say in the operation of the school, a chance to discuss issues and organise events important to them and an opportunity to improve speaking, listening and negotiation skills. Our students hold regular class meetings which in turn provide feedback to the Kids’ Council.
Recommendations from Kids’ Council meetings are sometimes referred to Council or whole school meetings. The Kids’ Council does not make decisions that are the responsibility of other groups or individuals (for example whether lollies are allowed at school).
Safety and Wellbeing
Kerry Street Community School is committed to prioritising the safety and wellbeing of our students and ensures that all policies, procedures, practices, and strategies are underpinned by our nominated child-safe organisational framework, National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.
Read more about how Kerry Street supports student wellbeing, including the implementation of the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, in our Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy on our policies page.
Kerry Street Community School explicitly forbids the use of any form of child abuse, corporal punishment, or other degrading punishment and provides clear guidance to all members of the school community about what forms of behaviour management are permitted through our Codes of Conduct.
The School will respond appropriately to complaints and allegations of grooming, child abuse, and breaches of the school’s Codes of Conduct in the best interests of the students and in line with the school’s policies and procedures. You can find out more about sharing feedback and raising concerns on our Feedback Page.
Our Child Friendly Complaints procedure supports students to voice their concerns and includes images and simple language, so it is accessible to all. It has been designed by students for students and is regularly reviewed by all students to ensure they understand how to report problems or concerns.
“Complaints systems are a fundamental part of ongoing organisational development to meet the needs of its intended consumers. They are also an important mechanism for correcting mistakes and for protecting people from abuse and mistreatment. Independent inquiries into child abuse, in Australia and internationally, consistently cite the same reasons children and young people give for not reporting abuse. These include not knowing how or who to complain to, and fear of not being believed or other repercussions if they do make a complaint.”
Commissioner for Children and Young People WA 2013