JPC Primary Academic Welfare Program
Our Academic Welfare Program focusses on developing the whole learner. It incorporates learning opportunities to support our students' social and emotional wellbeing and opportunities to develop leadership skillsets, while also developing study strategies to assist students' academic development.
To ensure that our Academic Welfare Program best meets the developmental needs of our students, it sequences age-appropriate learning opportunities to develop our students' skillsets. By tracking student development and wellbeing using teacher observation, our Flourishing Surveys, student wellbeing surveys, DARTS data, and academic results, we develop a clear picture of each student and develop learning opportunities responsive to their needs.
Further to this, the program is underpinned by the
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority's (ACARA) framework for Personal and Social Capabilities and
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).
It also incorporates research in
Positive Psychology by Martin Seligman, and Peer Support research from James Cook University and the University of Western Sydney. While our program is responsive to our student needs, these evidence-based frameworks underpin the learning opportunities in our program to ensure rigour in the development of student skills.
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SOARING Model of Positive Education This model is based on the work of Professor Martin Seligman, the founder of Positive Psychology. SOARING stands for six empirically validated elements of wellbeing, which together describe a flourishing individual:
Strong Outcomes: setting, striving for and achieving one's own meaningful outcomes Activity: valuing physical health (e.g. through exercise, healthy eating, and good sleep) Relationships: nurturing the thriving connection with others (through social awareness and relationship skills) Interests: experiencing moments of complete engagement in interests (or 'being in the zone') Noticing positive emotions: developing self-awareness and the ability to both build on positive emotional experiences and be mindful (or 'still one's mind') Giving: explore one's unique sense of meaning and purpose (e.g. through doing something to help others).
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The SOARING model of Positive Education (or simply, 'SOARING') is used school-wide with the Australian Curriculum Personal and Social Capabilities in John Paul College's approach to wellbeing.
All students are familiarised with the SOARING Tree (pictured) as a simple yet effective way of engaging with the different elements of wellbeing. Just as a tree can grow from a seedling and soar to great heights, students are led to understand that their own wellbeing 'flourishes' through deliberate attention, nurturing, effort and time.
