Case Study: Implementing Life Skills GO for Student Wellbeing at St John the Apostle Catholic Primary School

Life Skills Group had the opportunity to speak with Stephanie Thom, Assistant Principal at St John the Apostle Catholic Primary School. The school had identified three improvement goals for the year 2022, which included collaborative planning, implementing a new curriculum, and addressing student wellbeing. Recognizing the importance of student wellbeing in creating a positive learning environment, the school was keen to implement a technology-based program to support the mental health and emotional needs of their students. Although they had initially explored two other programs, they faced challenges in their implementation.

Challenges Faced

The school encountered difficulties in implementing the two technology-based programs for student wellbeing that they had initially considered. Unfortunately, these programs did not yield the expected results, and the school was left searching for an effective solution to address the wellbeing needs of their students. However, the school learned about Life Skills GO through an article and Minister Sarah Mitchell's Instagram post, and they reached out to Nikki at Life Skills GO for more information.

Implementation of Life Skills GO

At the end of 2022, Life Skills GO was presented to the school's executive leadership, and it was decided to implement it with the year six (stage three) cohort. Teachers found the Life Skills GO platform user-friendly and appreciated that it helped to alleviate some time constraints. The school also shared the initiative with their Wellbeing PBL (Positive Behaviour for Learning) leadership team and all primary staff. Student feedback was collected through journaling, providing students with a safe and private way to share their feelings with their teachers without being visible to their peers.

Reflection and Feedback

After reflection and feedback from teachers and staff, it was decided to onboard all staff to the Life Skills GO program. Stefanie, a member of the school's wellbeing team, mentioned that the initial buy-in from staff was driven by the school's improvement goals and previous attempts at implementing wellbeing programs. Additionally, a specific incident highlighted the need for monitoring student wellbeing. Stefanie presented the Life Skills GO dashboard to the wellbeing team, demonstrating its ease of use and alignment with the school's improvement goals.

Data Management and Wellbeing Policy

In term two, the school's wellbeing team planned to have an executive-level onboarding session with the Life Skills GO program to support data management. The school is currently in the process of transferring information from Life Skills GO into a system called Compass to effectively track data. Furthermore, the school has identified the need for a wellbeing policy that aligns with the diocesan policy and school procedures to ensure that systems and processes are supportive of the data received from the Life Skills GO program. The school is utilising data points and filtering systems to track student wellbeing and behaviour, which provides clear student voice and ease of tracking compared to anecdotal evidence.

Involving Parents and the School Counselor

The school is also considering how to involve parents and the school counsellor in effectively utilising the data. Although the school counsellor has found the data helpful, they do not yet have access to the system. The school acknowledges the importance of feedback from teachers and staff in updating and improving the system. Kim, a representative from Life Skills, has offered to set up a login for someone and provide administrative access to the whole school. Stefanie has suggested adding the counsellor, Lauren, to have the same level of access. Lauren, who works with students one-on-one as the school counsellor, can incorporate Life Skills GO into her sessions.

Positive Impact on Students and Teachers

Teachers have provided positive feedback on the use of meditation and emotion-regulating tools for students, particularly in the year six cohort. These tools have helped with classroom management and reduced disruptions during independent tasks. Teachers are exploring the resources and lessons on the Life Skills GO platform to align with the school's focus on wellbeing and Project-Based Learning. Taking it slow and one step at a time has proven to be an effective way to help implement Life Skills GO across the school. 

Key takeaways

1. The school initially explored two other technology-based programs for student wellbeing but faced challenges in their implementation.
2. Life Skills GO was implemented with the year six (stage three) cohort and was found to be user-friendly and helpful in lifting time constraints for teachers.
3. Student feedback was collected through journaling, providing a safe and private way for students to share their feelings with their teachers without being visible to their peers.
4. Reflection and feedback from teachers and staff led to the decision to onboard all staff to Life Skills GO, with buy-in based on the school's improvement goals and previous attempts at implementing wellbeing programs.
5. Data management and wellbeing policy are important aspects of the implementation, with plans for onboarding at an executive level and transferring information to a system called Compass for effective data tracking.
6. Involving parents and the school counsellor in utilising the data effectively is being considered, with the offer of setting up login and administrative access for the whole school, including the school counsellor.
7. Taking a slow and measured approach, incorporating collaborative coaching time for quick check-ins, has been effective in gaining buy-in from staff and students, and making a measurable difference in student wellbeing.