HEALTH & WELLBEING // MACKILLOP INSTITUTE
ReLATE has been designed for Australian schools and aims to build teachers’ understanding.
Teachers are a lighthouse for all students, but how do teachers keep their light burning? AS A TEACHER READING THIS, YOU SHOULD BE SO PROUD OF YOUR COMMITMENT TO IMPROVING THE LIVES OF YOUR STUDENTS. IN YOUR DAILY PRACTICE, YOU HELP YOUR STUDENTS MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD AROUND THEM, AND CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUR STUDENTS TO BE LITERATE, NUMERATE, CURIOUS AND HEALTHY IN MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT. IT’S NO EASY FEAT, AND IT’S BECOME HARDER. WRITTEN BY BEN SACCO, THE MACKILLOP INSTITUTE NATIONAL LEAD - PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT & IMPLEMENTATION.
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During the global health pandemic we have seen impaired learning, increased child stress, decreased connection, increased loneliness and declining mental health, including anxiety and depression. Furthermore, the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System found the impact of mental health on young people results in adverse life outcomes, impacting their ability to learn. Evidence is now emerging that highlights why schools are a critical system to deliver support and interventions to address complex stress and trauma.
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The MacKillop Institute is a non-profit that seeks to build the capacity of schools and organisations to deliver trauma-informed support to those who have experienced change, grief, loss and trauma. Our model, Reframing Learning and Teaching Environments (ReLATE), has been designed for Australian schools and aims to build teachers’ understanding and responses to behaviour to improve teaching, student learning and wellbeing outcomes. We know that adverse experiences and trauma in childhood have negative impacts on
education matters primary
a child’s developing body and brain and there are lasting impacts into adulthood. Teachers are the foundation for all students to productively engage in learning and feel safe and supported in their daily experiences. However, teachers are being asked to respond to students that present with a range of behaviours such as emotional dysregulation, aggression, school refusal, anxiety and heightened stress responses. Teacher burnout is real and measurable, and we must consider ways in which we are supporting our teachers to support our children. They are a lighthouse for their students, but
