All-School Visible Wellbeing Program
- Visible Wellbeing is an endorsed program on the Victorian DE School Mental Health Fund Menu, the South Australian DfE External Wellbeing Programs Directory and the Be You Programs Directory .
- Jan 2024 intake closing soon -
“Visible Wellbeing has given our students a vocabulary and assisted them in developing the tools to cope and flourish.
We took the program on in recognition of the importance wellbeing has in engaging our students in learning...Visible Wellbeing provides the backbone of our ‘Values Lessons’ the whole school does three times every term. Our students develop and grow their understanding and use of the SEARCH framework to better manage their emotions and themselves. Visible Wellbeing is embedded in our Individual Education Plans for every student. Lea and the team have expertly guided and supported us through this journey.”
- Graeme Forrester, Executive Principal – Chaffey Secondary College, Mildura
A Whole-School Approach to Positive Education
Visible Wellbeing is a whole-school, evidence-based program tailored specifically for Victorian Government Schools as part of the Department of Education and Training’s Schools Mental Health Fund Menu.
Based on the science of Positive Psychology, Visible Wellbeing aligns with FISO 2.0 to provide both staff and students with a toolkit of strategies to support wellbeing and buffer against mental illness.
VWB creates a unified and consistent approach to wellbeing across the whole school. The program trains all school staff (teaching and non-teaching) in a suite of mental health strategies that builds their capacity to implement wellbeing practices into daily life at school.
Your school will gain an evidence-based framework, tools to measure the wellbeing of students and staff, resources to print and use with students, 250+ activities tailored to all age groups from K-12, wellbeing guides for periods of remote learning including 120+ wellbeing activities that can delivered in virtual classrooms, newsletter excerpts and education for parents, a teaching rubric and on-demand orientation modules for new staff.
Visible Wellbeing has proudly been working with Victorian State schools since 2015.
Research Evidence for Visible Wellbeing
Visible Wellbeing has been evaluated and published in peer reviewed research journals since 2015. Outcomes of Visible Wellbeing include:
Stress recovery
Student resilience during COVID-19
Staff wellbeing
Emotional regulation
Culture of wellbeing
Wellbeing literacy
Enhancement of strengths
Positive classroom behaviour
Academic motivation
If you’d like to know more about Lea’s research click here.
VWB and FISO 2.0
VWB has been used in DET schools since 2015 and was developed to support FISO and FISO 2.0. Each of the 5 key elements of FISO 2.0 are actioned through the VWB teacher training, student resources, assessment, rubric, coaching and family communication tools.
How does the VWB Program work?
The VWB training consists of a combination of live webinars and on-demand, asynchronous coursework for all your staff, alongside one-on-one coaching for your VWB Lead.
Join together with other schools to learn together in the webinars, or choose to run the sessions with only your school staff*.
Staff then take a deep dive into the SEARCH pathways to wellbeing in the accompanying on-demand course.
There are two intakes per year, at the beginning of each semester. The VWB Program takes approximately 18 months to complete, but you retain access to the online resources for a period of 4 years.
*additional charges apply if undertaking the program as an individual school or if there is an opportunity for face-to-face modules.
Key Dates
Semester 2 2023 intake dates:
10 July 2023, Module 1 - All-Staff (PM via Zoom)
2 October 2023, Module 2 - All-Staff (PM via Zoom)
Term 4 2024 (TBC), Sustaining Change Workshop (via Zoom) - VWB Lead only
“Armed with ample resources and engaging presentations from Professor Lea Waters, our school found practical and accessible ways to bring wellbeing to life.
Putting the SEARCH Framework at the centre of key decisions and innovations supported our school community to discover alternative ways of thriving, that will continue to support better educational outcomes long after we’ve returned to a ‘Covid normal’ school life.”
- Simon McIntosh, Assistant Principal,
Yarra Primary School, Melbourne
FAQs
How does our school join the VWB Program?
Download our info pack to learn more about the VWB approach.
Conduct the required DET planning, choose VWB and submit your paperwork to DET.
Receive notification that your funding is approved.
Confirm your place in the VWB program.
How much staff release time is required?
The program consists of All-Staff Training, in addition to dedicated coaching and training for your school’s VWB Leader.
You will appoint your own VWB Leader, this is best suited to a person in a position of leadership and/or with links to wellbeing/pastoral care of your school community.
ALL-STAFF Training Release Requirements
3 hours in Term 1 2023 (Zoom workshop)
3 hours in Term 2 2023 (Zoom workshop)
13 hours over the course of 18mths (Term 1 2023 to Term 2 2024) - ON-DEMAND, online modules
90 minute Showcase, Term 1 2024 - LIVE at your school
VWB Leader Release Requirements
3 hours coaching - 1 hour in Term 1 2023, Term 3 2023 and Term 2 2024 - LIVE, virtual meetings
3 hour Sustaining Change Workshop - Term 1 2024
Do all our staff, teaching and non-teaching, really need to be at the live all-staff training sessions? What if they can’t make it?
Yes, the aim of the Visible Wellbeing approach to to create a common language and culture of wellbeing across all areas of your school, in the classroom, staff room, co-curricular areas, administration teams and beyond. We up-skill all adults in your school community with the tools to support their own wellbeing first, and for this reason we highly encourage all your staff to attend the two live, virtual modules.
We also acknowledge that things don’t always go according to plan, so if some staff are unable to make it on the day, there are orientation modules within the on-demand modules to help them catch-up on the training. These can also be used as orientation for new staff who come on board later.
What dates are the All-Staff training modules? Are there multiple options?
There are 2 cohorts available to join each year.
Cohort 1:
The first all-staff module will be on one of the PL at the start of the year (Vic school dates). Places are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis.
The second all-staff module will be scheduled for the first day back of Term 2 (Vic school dates).
Cohort 2:
The first all-staff module is on the first day of Term 3 (Vic school dates).
The second all-staff module is on first day of Term 4 (Vic school dates).
If none of the above dates are viable options for your team, let us know and we will keep you on a waitlist should new dates be released.
