One thing we have learnt over time is that every child learns differently, grows at their own pace, and needs different things to feel safe, supported and ready to thrive. At Newtown Primary, our approach to wellbeing and inclusion is built around exactly that idea — meeting each student where they are, and putting the right supports around them at the right time.

Our wellbeing and inclusion practices sit within the Victorian Department of Education’s broader commitment to student wellbeing. Under the Department’s Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO 2.0), wellbeing is placed alongside learning at the heart of what every Victorian government school is working to achieve — not as an add-on, but as a foundation for it. Inclusive education across the Department is guided by a human-rights-based approach under Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, and by a belief that every student, regardless of ability or need, should be welcomed, engaged and able to participate fully in school life.

In practice, this means Newtown Primary School isn’t working alone. We’re supported by the Department’s Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion Workforces — multidisciplinary teams of psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, social workers and behaviour specialists who work in partnership with schools to support student learning, engagement and wellbeing needs.

Aside from our explicit wellbeing curriculum that is taught, we offer a range of wellbeing programs designed to support students who need additional assistance either academically, socially or emotionally. These include:

• Literacy support, for students who need additional scaffolding to build reading, writing, and comprehension skills
• A student mental health and wellbeing officer, who works on-site 1.5 days a week, providing dedicated wellbeing support for students and families.
• A disability inclusion leader – who supports and leads all of our disability inclusion work to ensure all students – especially those – are supported and that their individual needs are met.
• A locally employed Occupational Therapist who is on-site 1 day per week, working directly with students on the functional and developmental skills that support their learning.

Beyond that of our own dedicated staff, we draw on the wider network of Student Support Services from the Department of Education where needed, which includes psychologists, social workers and speech therapists who work with our team to support students with more specific or complex needs.

We don’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to supporting our students. Careful thought goes into matching each student’s needs with the supports most likely to help them learn and grow — drawing on input from teachers, our wellbeing team, and families themselves. In line with the Department’s approach to inclusive education, decisions about support are made collaboratively, with students and families treated as genuine partners in the process.

At Newtown PS, we have 2 MTSS — Multi-Tiered System of Support — document. These are the frameworks that sits behind a lot of the wellbeing and inclusion work we’ve just shared as well as how we best support our students in their learning and achievement journeys. Our MTSS are proactive, whole-school models that catch the needs early and match the right level of support to each student, across academics, behaviour, and social-emotional wellbeing, and traditionally falls under 3 tiers.

Tier 1 — Universal supports for every student. This is high-quality teaching and learning, positive classroom culture, and whole-school wellbeing programs that everyone benefits from.

Tier 2 — Targeted support for students who need a bit more. Think small-group literacy support, social skills groups, or check-in/check-out mentoring — support that’s more intensive but still efficient to deliver to a number of students at once.

Tier 3 — Intensive individualised support, for students with more complex needs. This is where specialists — occupational therapists, psychologists, speech pathologists — come in, alongside individual education or behaviour support plans.

Underneath all three tiers lies our data which we use to identify and progress monitor our students to decide who needs what and then to make the necessary adjustments as things may change, rather than relying on a single point-in-time assessment. In Australia, the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) has become a key driver of MTSS adoption, particularly for literacy and numeracy support, and a growing number of Victorian schools, including ours, are now developing their own wellbeing and learning-support systems around it.

The upside for families and students: it’s not a program a child is “in” or “out” of — it’s the underlying logic we use to make sure every student gets exactly the level of support they need, as early as possible.