The famous line from Rudyard Kipling, ‘East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet’, reminds me of an outdated tale told about education. The traditional classroom instruction in numeracy and literacy is considered by some to be quite separate to the delivery of social and emotional lessons. But that is not the case at Carey, as the two certainly intertwine.
It is impossible to separate wellbeing from learning, regardless of the subject area. For example, we know that increased opportunities for student participation at school results in substantial wellbeing benefits, including improved academic achievement, an increased sense of agency, better communication, greater self-esteem and confidence, and increased community engagement. In order to achieve this there must be a regular engagement with student voice and evidence-based data in an ongoing way to help inform future decision making and planning. When tracking whole-school student wellbeing we have chosen to partner with Resilient Youth Australia who have surveyed more than 350,000 Australian school students aged 8 to 18 over recent years.
Co-developed with the School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Adelaide, the Resilient Youth Survey is scientifically valid and reliable. As a school, we receive next day data while also knowing that our student data is anonymous, confidential, safe and secure. Besides helping to inform our own strategic planning, on a wider scale, we are able to contribute towards Resilient Youth: State of the Nation Report from the University of Adelaide, an important national-level resource for all parents and educators.
The survey collects the self-reported resilience and wellbeing of students and will provide valuable information to assist us to create and maintain the best culture of wellbeing and learning that we can.
We are pleased to share with parents an Executive Summary of Carey’s RYS data from the past two years. Please click here to access the findings.
Our aim is to enable every Carey student to maximise their learning, complemented by an awareness of their individual wellbeing in order for students to have control of their life.
Peter Robson
Deputy Principal – Wellbeing
