Noranda Primary School are proud to partner with Act Belong Commit as a Mentally Healthy School. We endeavour to provide a number of health and wellbeing opportunities for our students and staff. These include the following.
Student Wellbeing Officer
Our Student Wellbeing Officer (SWO) works as a member of the school’s wellbeing team in the delivery of student and staff wellbeing services. The SWO supports students and staff to create an environment which promotes the physical, emotional, social and intellectual development and wellbeing of students. The SWO provides one-on-one intervention to students and small group sessions to students on presenting issues.
Noranda PS Mentally Healthy Week
As a Mentally Healthy School promoting the Act, Belong, Commit message, Noranda Primary School holds a Mentally Healthy Week for our staff and students every year in October during WA Mental Health Week. During this week a variety of activities are held for our students and staff. In the past these have included yoga incursions, Helping Minds workshops for students and parents/carers, Phil Doncon’s Paint Storm incursion, a drama improvisation workshop, colouring competitions, a scavenger hunt and the creation of a Mentally Healthy Tree and Pledge Wall that all students contributed to. Staff have also participated in many mentally healthy activities including team building games and quizzes, bowling, mini golf, mindfulness sessions, bubble blowing and progressive muscular relaxation.
Health and Wellbeing Committee
In 2022 Noranda Primary School formed its Health and Wellbeing Committee comprised of interested staff members. The purpose of the committee is to promote the health and wellbeing of students and staff by developing and implementing health and wellbeing strategies and raising awareness of related issues. Initiatives of the Health and Wellbeing Committee have included staff shout outs, Joke Wednesday, PA mindfulness sessions and coordination of RU OK? Day and Mentally Healthy Week activities.
Breakfast Club
In mid-2023, Noranda Primary School was successful in securing a Healthway grant to establish a school Breakfast Club. Coordinated by our Student Wellbeing Officer and supported by a number of dedicated parent and student volunteers, Breakfast Club runs twice a week. Food is provided by Food Bank WA and local donations. The Breakfast Club is incredibly successful, with teachers reporting that students are more prepared and organised to start their learning on the days they attended Breakfast Club.
Growth Mindset
Our teachers at Noranda Primary School actively teach and model a growth mindset. A growth mindset is seeing challenges as opportunities to grow, viewing failures as valuable learning experiences and persisting even when faced with setbacks. This is in contrast to a fixed mindset, where one believes their abilities are innate and as a result avoid challenges and give up easily when faced with difficulty.
Protective Behaviours
An important part of our curriculum at Noranda Primary School is teaching protective behaviours to our students. We teach protective behaviours to empower students with the knowledge and skills to recognise unsafe situations, build confidence in their ability to stay safe and learn how to seek help when needed. The focus leads to a prevention of abuse and harm and equips students with the tools to navigate challenging social situations.
