At our Mt Ridley campus in the Primary school we have been using Skodel, an online Wellbeing Check-In tool, principally with our students in Years 3 - 6. Skodel is an online child friendly Wellbeing Check-In program designed to be used by students to give them another opportunity to discuss with teachers and support staff in the School. It is able to be administered in an ad-hoc manner or scheduled to happen on a regular basis. It gives our student’s a voice and real-time visibility.
Our first survey revolved around our 2019 Year 6 cohort and their feelings in relation to Orientation Day, preparing them for Year 7. That initial check-in highlighted a number of concerns prior to the event, as well as how students were then feeling post-Orientation Day. Some of the concerns they had were around meeting new teachers and students, having friends leaving the School and simply leaving the perceived safety of Primary school. It allowed the Year 6 teaching team, along with the Wellbeing Team, to offer support to those students who were concerned at the time about the event as well as follow up after Orientation Day to re-assure and discuss any lingering worries they had.
Since that time, we have been using Skodel extensively amongst our Years 3 - 6 students at our Mt Ridley campus and have come across several different trends as well as pieces of individual information.
One of the major trends we recognised during Remote Teaching and Learning in 2020 was how many of our students were struggling without regular face-to-face contact with friends. While this was not something we could facilitate as a school, we strongly encouraged our students and families to find ways to communicate with friends online, with several students telling us they are taking the opportunity to open online age-appropriate chat forums or even chatting through online gaming.
A second trend we noticed was how many of our students reported feeling ‘tired’. When we probed further, we were able to identify one of the causes of this as ‘online learning’, being online so much each day during Remote Teaching and Learning in 2020. As a result, as teachers, we encouraged the students to spend more time away from their devices, get outside and go for a walk, read a book or play cards or a board game with a sibling or parents. We endeavoured to allocate tasks for students that took them away from their devices, as an example asking students to create and complete Science experiments revolving around forces and sustainability.
While we discovered trends across the cohorts, we also found individual pieces of information from our students that enabled us to support them personally. Some spoke about issues they were encountering with friends, both in and out of the School environment, others mentioned concerns with the curriculum which led teachers to adapt the learning opportunities for the students. One particular student spoke about family struggles caused by COVID restrictions. As a result, their Homeroom teacher and the Wellbeing team were able to support the student, along with other siblings.
Skodel Wellbeing Check-Ins continue to be an important collection tool within the Mt Ridley Primary school, and the Wellbeing team are currently investigating ways to expand the program to include our younger Prep - Year 2 students. However, these Check-Ins are only one way of collecting information that influences the Wellbeing program, it is also through close work with our Homeroom teachers, Specialist teachers and the wider School community, parents and guardians, that we are best able to guide the program and in turn support our students.
The Wellbeing of our students remains a priority across the Mt Ridley Primary school and we continue to evolve our ways to support them, with Skodel Wellbeing Check-Ins being just one of those tools used to complement the other tools used.
