Welcome to this month’s Living Ripples update! We’re bringing you stories, ideas and opportunities to support the wellbeing of your school community, from Upper Yarra Secondary College’s thoughtful approach to student voice, to a fresh look at the role food can play in children’s wellbeing, behaviour and learning.
A Thoughtful Approach to Student Voice and Wellbeing at Upper Yarra Secondary
At Upper Yarra Secondary College, improving student wellbeing has long been a shared priority. Like many schools, however, the team was mindful of adding another survey to students’ already busy schedules.
The school first heard about Living Ripples through Resilience Youth Australia. The approach was introduced to members of the leadership and wellbeing teams, and the initial response was cautious. Staff were mindful that students already participate in a number of surveys and wanted to ensure that any additional activity would be worthwhile.
Through discussions within the wellbeing and leadership teams, staff began to see the potential value of the survey. They noted that the questions were thoughtful and meaningful, exploring areas of student life that schools often find difficult to measure clearly, such as coping skills, anxiety, and digital behaviours.
What if food is a missing foundation in student wellbeing?
Thriving Students: The Missing Foundation in Mental Health, Behaviour and Learning in Schools by Belinda Smith – Founder of The Root Cause, explores the often-overlooked connection between food, wellbeing, behaviour and learning.
Drawing on research and examples from Australian schools, the paper invites educators and school leaders to rethink food not as a set of rules or lunchbox guidelines, but as information that influences mood, behaviour, energy, focus and learning readiness.
Rather than suggesting schools become “nutrition educators” or “lunchbox police”, the paper offers a practical reframe: what could change if food was considered a foundational input within existing wellbeing approaches?
Read the 5-minute position paper and explore the questions it raises for your school community.
Help Shape the Future of Living Ripples
We’re inviting Living Ripples schools to join an upcoming School Roundtable to share your experience, feedback and ideas about the program.
📍 Melbourne: 17 November 2026
Dates are indicative and will be confirmed closer to the time.
This is an opportunity to reflect on what has worked well, what could be improved, and what you would like to see from Living Ripples in the future. Your insights will help us shape and refine our future service model so it continues to be useful, practical and responsive to the needs of schools.
If you’d like to take part, please complete the expression of interest form below. We’d love to hear from you and have your voice help shape what comes next for Living Ripples.
Interested in joining?
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: The Roots
Food as a foundation for wellbeing
What children eat can influence their learning, mood, behaviour and ability to regulate emotions, making food an important and often overlooked part of whole-school wellbeing.
The Root Cause helps schools explore this connection through fun, practical and evidence-informed experiences. Its flagship Mad Food Science™ Incursion uses hands-on experiments to spark conversations with students and teachers about food, mood, behaviour, learning and the environment.
For schools looking to take the conversation further, Making Friends with Food®offers a whole-school approach combining student incursions, parent seminars, teacher development and ongoing resources.
The approach is non-judgemental, engaging and designed to help school communities build positive relationships with food. An independent 2024 evaluation by the University of Southern Queensland found that the program uses simple, relatable messages and a supportive approach.
Through Living Ripples, The Root Cause offers schools an opportunity to explore food as a practical and often overlooked lever for children’s health and wellbeing.
