As we settle into the beginning of the school year, we’d like to thank you for being part of the Living Ripples community. The care, time and energy you bring to this work continue to make a real difference to students, teachers and families.
In this issue, we share the wellbeing journey of St Albans Heights and how their school community is embedding Living Ripples in everyday practice. You’ll also find highlights from the VicSRC Teach the Teacher program, showcasing approaches that amplify student voice and wellbeing. We wrap up with a deeper look at your Hope Scale survey results, offering reflections and insights to help inform your work across the year ahead.
Turning Insight Into Impact: Wellbeing at St Albans Heights
Eight years ago, St Albans Heights began strengthening its wellbeing approach under the leadership of Principal Effie Sultana, Assistant Principal Glenn Groves, and the Wellbeing Team. While existing supports like art therapy and counselling were effective, the team saw the need for a more structured, evidence-based approach.
Through Living Ripples, the school gained clearer insights into student wellbeing, allowing them to design more targeted and impactful initiatives. This included tailored support for Grade 6 girls navigating friendships, alongside school-wide strategies informed by both survey data and qualitative observations.
Help Shape the Future of Living Ripples
As we continue to strengthen Living Ripples and how we support schools, we’d love to hear from you. Our short Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey is a simple way to share what’s working well, what could be improved, and what matters most to your school. It only takes a few minutes to complete, and your feedback will directly inform how Living Ripples evolves to better meet school needs.
Thank you for taking the time to help shape what comes next.
It’s Time for Your Next Living Ripples Check-in!
We’re excited to invite your school to book your second SWAP check-in meeting with your Living Ripples facilitator. This session is designed to help you deepen your wellbeing journey and celebrate the progress you’ve already made.
During this check-in, you’ll have the chance to:
Review your progress and plan the next steps to further support your students.
Review results from your Student Wellbeing Audit Tool (SWAT).
To prepare, please ensure your leadership team and staff complete the SWAT survey – a quick 15-question tool developed by Adelaide University and Resilient Youth Australia. Book your check-in session by contacting your SWAP facilitator.
Access details:
• URL: https://lr.resilientyouth.org/
• Survey code: Available in your school’s Smartsheet.
Meet Living Ripples provider: VicSRC
VicSRC (the Victorian Student Representative Council) is the Victorian peak body for school-aged children and young people. Their internationally recognised Teach the Teacher program, delivered by VicSRC staff, empowers students to drive change at school by leading collaborative – and constructive – conversations with their teachers.
In 2019, Teach the Teacher was recognised as one of HundrED’s Top 100 education innovations globally. Designed by students, for students, the program offers a unique opportunity for teachers and students to become partners in education. The intensive, semester-long structure supports students to build momentum and drive meaningful change within their school context. The program combines practical tools, data-informed reflection, and collaborative action planning, ensuring it delivers lasting value and equips participants with resources and learnings that can be embedded and sustained beyond the program.
Teach the Teacher is a “transformative flipping of pedagogy” that aims to create positive and sustainable cultural change through student-teacher partnership. The program is designed for whole school communities – including students, teachers, and school leadership – to build on existing student voice strengths and identify areas for growth. Participating schools are provided with a range of exclusive, age-specific student voice resources and regular support from VicSRC staff.
Insightful resource for school on wellbeing
Understanding students beyond scores helps schools support their wellbeing more effectively. The Children’s Hope Scale (CHS) is a widely used six-item instrument for assessing hope in children. The CHS is thought to contain two dimensions:
Agency thinking (ability to initiate and sustain action towards goals) and
Pathways thinking (capacity to find a means to carry out goals)
But there is debate whether the scale is unidimensional rather than bidimensional and the factor structure has yet to be established in Australian children. The following peer reviewed articles offers a reliable way to explore children’s agency and pathways thinking.
