Wellbeing

At CNPS our key values are:

  • Thoughtfulness

  • Courage

  • Passion

  • Wonder

We have a positive school culture at CNPS. As well as teaching academic skills, we promote student resilience, wellbeing and positive social attitudes. Through social and emotional learning (SEL) we help students learn the skil​​ls they need to build resilience, effectively manage their emotions, learn to understand themselves and others and establish and maintain positive relationships.

To ensure our students are provided with the best opportunity to develop social and emotional skills, we use a whole school approach which includes the following programs and approaches:

  • PLAY IS THE WAY®

  • Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships

  • Zones of Regulation


PLAY IS THE WAY®

PLAY IS THE WAY® is a practical methodology for teaching social and emotional learning using guided play, classroom activities and an empowering language – behaviour education using wisdom, not force using;

  • A unique program of physically interactive games (that both require and develop personal and social competencies)

  • 5 guiding concepts (that are embedded through classroom activities and serve as a moral compass to help children do what they believe is right as opposed to doing what they are told).

  • A specific and empowering self-reflective language (that helps children to master their behaviour in preparation for a responsible life).

The sessions often involve a lot of talking, movement and laughter. Each new game requires students to face new challenges as an individual and together as part of a team. Each challenge incorporates the five guiding concepts, known as the ‘Life Raft’

  • Treat others as you would like the to treat you

  • Be Brave, participate to progress

  • Pursue your personal best

  • It takes great strength to be sensible

  • Have reasons for the things you say and do

Wilson McCaskill is the founder of the program and the author of the book ‘Children Aren’t Made of China’. We love this quote from Wilson.

“Let us raise children to be considerate of themselves, others and the world in which they live, with sound reasons for the things they say and do… from this, all else will follow.”

Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) is a Department of Education program used to support students to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to strengthen their sense of self, and build and manage safe and respectful relationships.

In the primary years, Respectful Relationships focuses on treating everyone with respect and dignity. It is taught as part of the Health and Physical Education and Personal and Social Capability areas of the Victorian Curriculum.

The Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships resources cover eight topics for each year level.

Topic 1: Emotional Literacy

Topic 2: Personal Strengths

Topic 3: Positive Coping

Topic 4: Problem Solving

Topic 5: Stress Management

Topic 6: Help-Seeking

Topic 7: Gender and Identity

Topic 8: Positive Gender Relations

The Zones of Regulation™

The Zones of Regulation™ curriculum was designed by an Occupational Therapist, it includes learning activities to help students recognise when they are in the different zones (states of arousal). Calming techniques and thinking strategies are explored, enabling students to develop a toolbox of strategies from which they can choose to help self-regulate.

Students gain an increased vocabulary of emotional terms, skills in reading facial expressions, perspective on how others see and react to their behaviour, insight about events that trigger their behaviour, and problem-solving skills.

What are The Zones of Regulation?

The Zones of regulation categorises states of alertness and emotions into four coloured zones:

  • The Blue Zone:Low states of alertness, such as sad, sick, tired or bored. The body and/or brain is moving slowly or sluggishly.

  • The Green Zone:A regulated, in control state of alertness that students generally need to be in for schoolwork and being social.

  • The Yellow Zone:A heightened state of alertness. A person may be experiencing stress, anxiety, frustration or excitement, and become wiggly, squirmy or sensory seeking. The Yellow Zone is starting to lose control.

  • The Red Zone:Extremely heightened states of alertness or very intense feelings, such as anger, rage, panic or elation. Being in the Red Zone is best explained as not being in control of one’s body.