NSCSWP - Student Welfare Worker
Our school receives funding from the Australian Government Department of Education under the National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program (NSCSWP). The aim of this funding is to assist schools to provide pastoral wellbeing services to support students, staff and the school community.
1. The NSCSWP Worker has three main roles:
A Pastoral Role
The NSCSWP Worker will:
- participate in a wide range of school community activities, and support staff, to contribute to creating a caring and inclusive learning environment within the school.
- with written, informed parental consent provide ongoing personal assistance with individual students, subject to duty of care, consent, confidentiality and disclosure requirements and the code of conduct.
- be available to provide ongoing support to individuals and/or families.
- provide additional opportunities for families to feel supported.
- provide factual and impartial information about, network with, and be a link to, the support and services provided through community groups, local council and government agencies.
- consult and liaise with student counsellors and other staff about student safety, wellbeing or learning while maintaining appropriate confidentiality, and referring students to other staff as required.
- Be a mandated notifier, and thus be required to report any suspected abuse or neglect as required by state legislation.
- provide a reference point for addressing social issues
- provide access to resources from the broader community which are relevant to school programs.
- be available to give input into health and social education courses (e.g. in the areas of grief, self-esteem, values or relationships).
- be available to give assistance with camps and excursions, and, where appropriate, initiate activities such as voluntary clubs or groups in the school.
- support groups such as the Student Representative Council and the Peer Support Program
A Referral Role
The NSCSWP Worker will:
A Resource Role
The NSCSWP Worker will:
2. This service offered by the NSCSWP Worker is accessed by school community members on a voluntary basis.
3. The NSCSWP Worker is managed by a school leader and complements, enhances and collaborates with the school
well-being team, counselors and other school support staff.
4. Students are able to access the NSCSWP through Student Services.
5. A Grievance Procedure for any formal complaint is available from the School Principal.
Disclaimer
The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Government Department of Education
Acknowledgement
This project was funded by the Australian Government Department of Education under the National School Chaplain Student Welfare Program (NSCSWP)
PALs
This is a Social Skills Program for our Junior children. The children work, in small groups with our School Chaplain. Through stories, puppets, songs and DVD's skills such as empathy and co-operation are taught in order to help the children deal with social situations.
BUDDY SYSTEM
Each Prep child is allocated a 'buddy' from Year 6 whose job it is to ensure that they feel safe in the playground and have a big friend that they can call on. The children are introduced to their buddy on one of their orientation days, so they have a familiar face to greet them when they arrive at school the following year. During the first year the children will frequently come together in class time to complete activities together.