At St Fidelis Catholic Primary School, we believe wellbeing is central to learning and life. Guided by the MACS Vision for Engagement, our policies and practices take a holistic approach, supporting students’ intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual development. We aim to foster lifelong healthy habits while promoting values such as respect, tolerance, and acceptance of self and others.
We support students in developing positive relationships, resilience, persistence, confidence, and organisational skills. Through Catholic Education Melbourne, we access specialist services, including psychology and speech therapy, and work in partnership with families to provide a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment where every student can thrive and flourish.
Positive Behaviour
At St Fidelis we know children learn best when there is a whole school approach to behaviour management with consistent expectations. We value respect, tolerance and understanding.
Our agreed ways explicitly teach students how to act respectfully towards each other, staff, families and the broader community.
We have established strong links with the Bully Zero Foundation to promote awareness in all our students of how their words and actions impact on others and to foster lifelong strategies to enable them to work and play successfully together.
Social Justice
At St Fidelis Catholic Primary School, students are encouraged to learn from the lives of Jesus, St Fidelis, and others whose actions exemplify how to live with compassion, integrity, and purpose. Through the lens of Catholic Social Teachings, students develop an understanding of the rights and responsibilities we all share in caring for ourselves, each other, and the wider world.
Our Social Justice Leaders play an important role in promoting awareness and action across the school community. They support initiatives that encourage students to actively contribute to causes that foster fairness, inclusion, and care for the environment, helping all students to make a positive impact both locally and globally.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
At St Fidelis, we recognise that social and emotional skills are essential for success and wellbeing. These skills are explicitly taught and supported, recognising that development is influenced by life experiences, maturity, and individual abilities.
Through SEL, students learn to:
- Recognise and manage their emotions and demonstrate care for others
- Make ethical, responsible decisions and demonstrate positive behaviour
- Build and maintain healthy relationships while avoiding negative behaviours
- Develop resilience and problem-solving skills to meet social and life challenges
- Foster and sustain friendships
We implement a range of strategies, programs, and resources to meet individual needs and nurture each student’s strengths. These include:
- The Resilience Project
- Buddy Program
- Transition Programs
- Whole-school Social and Emotional Learning initiatives
- Positive Behaviour Management
- Student Leadership Opportunities
- Lunchtime Clubs
- Individual Learning Plans and Learning Support Officers
- Learning Diversity Leader support
- G.A.T.E.W.A.Ys programs
Student Health
At St Fidelis we encourage and support the development of healthy habits. We encourage the eating of fresh fruit and/or vegetables brain food break every day during class and encourage them to drink plenty of water to help give them the energy to continue to focus on their learning.
The students have many opportunities to be active. Our Physical Education Program teaches students the skills needed for both team and individual sports, encourage participation in intra and inter school competitions as well as athletics carnivals. Families are also encouraged to take part in the Premiers’ Active April Challenge and National Walk to School Days.
St Fidelis is a Sun Smart school and our policy reflects the recommendations of the Sun Smart organisation. The Bureau of Meteorology provides information about the times of day UV levels are forecast to reach 3 or higher, meaning that sun protection is recommended for all skin types. In Victoria UV levels regularly reach 3 or higher from mid – August to the end of April.
As part of general Sun Smart strategies, our school:
- Requires all students and staff to wear hats that protect the face, neck and ears (legionnaire, broad-brimmed or bucket style) and suitable clothing whenever they are outside (e.g. recess, lunch, sport, excursions)
- Requires children outdoors without hats to sit in a designated shaded area during play times from the beginning of September to the end of April or whenever UV levels reach three or more. NO HAT- NO PLAY.
Student Wellbeing
At St Fidelis Catholic Primary School, student wellbeing is central to all we do. In line with the MACS Vision for Engagement, our policies and practices reflect a holistic approach, supporting students’ intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual development. We aim to foster lifelong healthy habits while nurturing values such as respect, tolerance, and acceptance of self and others.
We support students to develop positive relationships, resilience, persistence, confidence, and organisational skills. Through Catholic Education Melbourne, we have access to specialist services, including psychology and speech therapy, and work closely with families to provide a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment where every student can thrive and flourish.
Speech Pathology
We are proudly working with the team at Speech Pathology for Schools (SPS) to extend the oral language and literacy skills of all our students. The program is integrated into our school curriculum to provide specialist support throughout the year. To find out more, just ask your child’s teacher, or visit www.speech.edu.au
St. Fidelis is partnering with Speech Pathology for Schools (SPS) for two days of service per week. Speech Pathology for Schools provides holistic school based speech pathology support. We work collaboratively with school staff to improve student outcomes. School data along with speech pathology data is used to target support and monitor student progress. If you have any queries regarding speech pathology services at St Fidelis, please contact us.
St Fidelis is focusing SPS services literacy based assessment and intervention services for the Foundation to Year 3 students. The speech pathologist will work collaboratively with the school leadership team, teachers and Educational Support Officers (ESO) to help meet the needs of students experiencing literacy difficulties. St Fidelis welcomes SPS as a valued addition to the school community and Allied Health Services provided by Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools (MACS).
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