The wellbeing of our students is of the utmost importance to us. Children at Upper Plenty have access to a Student Wellbeing team co-ordinated by the principal and Student Wellbeing Lead Teacher.  Their work is supported by service providers such as speech therapists, social workers, counsellors, ESO- Integration aides and DET SSSO staff provide support and guidance for our students, staff and families.

We believe that for students to learn to their full potential they need to feel safe, valued and respected at school. Within our school, The Resilience Project and the Zones of Regulation underpin teaching and learning and guide interactions between teacher and students and amongst students themselves.

Zones of Regulation

At UPPS, the Zones of Regulation is part of our student's social and emotional learning. We teach these zones to help students notice and articulate the emotion they are feeling. When students understand the concept of the different coloured zones they will then explore ways to help regulate themselves. Some will need the support of sensory devices, others will utilise calming techniques. We want to help all students to recognize when they are beginning to feel uncomfortable in the yellow zone and have a toolbox of ideas to help them regulate themselves.

• Blue Zone: This is where you would be if you were feeling tired, sad, bored or sick. In general, you are feeling slow and uncomfortable.
• Green Zone: This is where you feel happy, pleased, proud, content, calm and ready to learn. This is the ideal zone for students to be in when in class, i.e. feeling comfortable.
• Yellow zone: This is when there is some loss of control; where students may feel worried, scared or frustrated, behave in a silly way or be excited. In this zone, students can be either comfortable or uncomfortable.
• Red Zone: This is where there is a loss of control. There could be feelings of rage, fury, elation or total fear.

You can support your child at home by asking them which zone they are in and by using an ‘I wonder question’.

"I wonder if you are in the yellow zone at the moment, you seem a bit worried.” Naming the emotion will help the students with their emotional literacy and show them that we can see they are feeling uncomfortable.

Exploring sensory ideas to help your child feel calmer will also help. Some children find colouring, playdough, using stress balls, time at the park or reading a book really beneficial. You could also try using relaxing music, children’s yoga for deep breathing exercises or mindfulness.