Our School
Who we are
Students at Yarra Me
Students are referred to Yarra Me School from State primary schools within the metropolitan areas of the North Western Region.
The core Services are the Intake Program (classroom-based) and Positive Partnerships (outreach) services.
Students in the Intake Program and Positive Partnerships service come from a range of backgrounds which include or co-occur with:
Staff at Yarra Me
The staff work in partnership with the families and carers, referring schools and other Key Stakeholders supporting the student to develop a strengths-based model to improve social engagement and learning.
The staff at Yarra Me School includes:
School Council at Yarra Me
The School Council operates within the guidelines of the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic), the Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (Vic) and a constituting Order. The School Council helps strengthen community confidence by involving representation within and beyond the school community of Yarra Me School.
There are four categories of membership on the Yarra Me School Council. These are:
Sub-committees: Finance
School Council meetings are held on the +++ Monday of each month commencing at 5pm.
The School Council supports the Principal to provide [the best outcomes for the students and schools receiving services through the Yarra Me programs.
Students at Yarra Me
Students are referred to Yarra Me School from State primary schools within the metropolitan areas of the North Western Region.
The core Services are the Intake Program (classroom-based) and Positive Partnerships (outreach) services.
Students in the Intake Program and Positive Partnerships service come from a range of backgrounds which include or co-occur with:
- Trauma
- Attachment Disorder
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Anxiety
- Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD)
Staff at Yarra Me
The staff work in partnership with the families and carers, referring schools and other Key Stakeholders supporting the student to develop a strengths-based model to improve social engagement and learning.
The staff at Yarra Me School includes:
- Principal
- Assistant Principal
- Business Manager
- Program Managers
- Teachers
- Education Support (ES) staff
- Profession Learning Tutor
- Learning Tutor
- Psychologist
- Speech Pathologist
School Council at Yarra Me
The School Council operates within the guidelines of the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic), the Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (Vic) and a constituting Order. The School Council helps strengthen community confidence by involving representation within and beyond the school community of Yarra Me School.
There are four categories of membership on the Yarra Me School Council. These are:
- Ex-officio (School Principal)
- DE staff
- Nominee positions - (Community, DFFH)
- Parent Representatives
Sub-committees: Finance
School Council meetings are held on the +++ Monday of each month commencing at 5pm.
The School Council supports the Principal to provide [the best outcomes for the students and schools receiving services through the Yarra Me programs.
What we do
Yarra Me School's educational programs are centred around a trauma informed, relational and therapeutic approach in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). The learning is a Tier 3 intervention and is embedded within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework. Informed by data using the SSIS-SEL Edition 51 skills teacher survey from referring schools, the results inform Yarra Me staff where the child is socially and emotionally to provide a personalised SEL program to develop the areas of concern using appropriate supports, accommodations and strategies.
Accommodations and adjustments are then implemented, and reviewed back at the child's mainstream school in partnership with their teacher and, if possible, Education Support staff and other Key Stakeholders, such as Speech Pathologists, Psychologists, etc. Additionally, these accommodations are also implemented at home if required.
Team Around the Learner meetings are held twice a term with the families / carers, mainstream schools and additional staff members working with the child and any additional Key Stakeholders to monitor and review progress and any additional supports that may be required.
Students will then return to their mainstream schools after placement with a Student Support Plan that includes a learner profile and a SEL Personalised Learning Plan.
Yarra Me School's educational programs are centred around a trauma informed, relational and therapeutic approach in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). The learning is a Tier 3 intervention and is embedded within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework. Informed by data using the SSIS-SEL Edition 51 skills teacher survey from referring schools, the results inform Yarra Me staff where the child is socially and emotionally to provide a personalised SEL program to develop the areas of concern using appropriate supports, accommodations and strategies.
Accommodations and adjustments are then implemented, and reviewed back at the child's mainstream school in partnership with their teacher and, if possible, Education Support staff and other Key Stakeholders, such as Speech Pathologists, Psychologists, etc. Additionally, these accommodations are also implemented at home if required.
Team Around the Learner meetings are held twice a term with the families / carers, mainstream schools and additional staff members working with the child and any additional Key Stakeholders to monitor and review progress and any additional supports that may be required.
Students will then return to their mainstream schools after placement with a Student Support Plan that includes a learner profile and a SEL Personalised Learning Plan.
How we do it
TORA
The Teacher's Optimal Relationship Approach (TORA) is a school-based, early intervention mental health and wellbeing strategy.
TORA acknowledges the pivotal role teacher's play in the lives of children and focuses on the development of teachers' skills to further enhance connection with children. The TORA is a universal approach that aims to increase student engagement in education by providing the conditions that enable children to engage, learn and grow.
The Key Principles of TORA:
Our teachers have been trained in the eight key skills to support the development of optimal conditions for children's learning.
TORA
The Teacher's Optimal Relationship Approach (TORA) is a school-based, early intervention mental health and wellbeing strategy.
TORA acknowledges the pivotal role teacher's play in the lives of children and focuses on the development of teachers' skills to further enhance connection with children. The TORA is a universal approach that aims to increase student engagement in education by providing the conditions that enable children to engage, learn and grow.
The Key Principles of TORA:
- The teacher develops a warm, friendly relationship with the children in their class, in which good rapport is established and maintained.
- The teacher accepts each child in class exactly as he or she is based on a deep level of understanding.
- The teacher communicates a sense of safety for the child in the relationship so that the children in class feel free to express their feelings completely.
- The teacher is alert to recognise the feelings the child is expressing and reflects those feelings back in such a manner that the child gains insight into his or her emotions and behaviours.
- The teacher maintains a deep respect for the child's ability to solve problems given the opportunity. Whenever possible, the responsibility to make choices and institute change is the child's.
- The teacher follows the child's lead as much as possible within the class learning environment to create opportunities for deeper learning.
- The classroom follows a predictable structure, and the teacher set limits in class, to keep everyone safe and to make the children aware of his or her responsibilities in their relationships.
Our teachers have been trained in the eight key skills to support the development of optimal conditions for children's learning.
© Copyright 2023, Kate Renshaw, Play and Filial Therapy Press
Understanding Behaviour
Children's behaviour is communication, telling us a story about what has happened to them, and their everyday world experiences.
Challenging behaviour happens for a reason. This behaviour is sometimes due to the child not having the social and emotional skills they need to manage situations. Often when we see difficult behaviours, it is a response to a child feeling overwhelmed and struggling with processing these feelings.
For students of Yarra Me, they often present with difficulties with emotion regulation and managing overwhelming situations. Our focus at Yarra Me in collaboration with all Key Stakeholders in a child's life (Team Around the Learner TAL), is to develop an understanding of what the child needs. The TAL explores and analyses the causes of the behaviour and develops a Student Support Plan that identifies strategies and interventions that will assist the student to communicate their needs in a more positive way while giving and all key stakeholders a sense of understanding and ways to communicate with the child for these strategies and interventions to be sustained.
Children's behaviour is communication, telling us a story about what has happened to them, and their everyday world experiences.
Challenging behaviour happens for a reason. This behaviour is sometimes due to the child not having the social and emotional skills they need to manage situations. Often when we see difficult behaviours, it is a response to a child feeling overwhelmed and struggling with processing these feelings.
For students of Yarra Me, they often present with difficulties with emotion regulation and managing overwhelming situations. Our focus at Yarra Me in collaboration with all Key Stakeholders in a child's life (Team Around the Learner TAL), is to develop an understanding of what the child needs. The TAL explores and analyses the causes of the behaviour and develops a Student Support Plan that identifies strategies and interventions that will assist the student to communicate their needs in a more positive way while giving and all key stakeholders a sense of understanding and ways to communicate with the child for these strategies and interventions to be sustained.
© Copyright 2024, Lynden Bobbitt, Yarra Me School
Team Around the Learner (TAL)
The Team Around the Learner (TAL) are key people working together in coordinating a plan to meet the needs of the learner. They support them to continue to engage in, or re-engage in, education and learning (DE, 2024). The key people involved are the learner, parents / carers, teachers and Education Support staff, medical and allied health professionals involved and leadership.
The Key Principles of a TAL are:
1. The learner and family are at the centre.
2. Learners experience a coordinated and seamless experience.
3. The TAL promotes positive engagement.
4. The TAL is outcomes focussed.
5. The TAL is a collaborative and collective team effort within an effective school-wide positive behaviour framework.
The 5 phases of the TAL pathway are required to be in place to support the learner.
The Team Around the Learner (TAL) are key people working together in coordinating a plan to meet the needs of the learner. They support them to continue to engage in, or re-engage in, education and learning (DE, 2024). The key people involved are the learner, parents / carers, teachers and Education Support staff, medical and allied health professionals involved and leadership.
The Key Principles of a TAL are:
1. The learner and family are at the centre.
2. Learners experience a coordinated and seamless experience.
3. The TAL promotes positive engagement.
4. The TAL is outcomes focussed.
5. The TAL is a collaborative and collective team effort within an effective school-wide positive behaviour framework.
The 5 phases of the TAL pathway are required to be in place to support the learner.
Building Language and Literacy Skills
At Yarra Me School, oral language activities are fully integrated into the classroom program. In addition, students have the benefit of a Speech *athologist working with teachers and in the classroom, offering tailored oral language activities and support.
Yarra Me has also adopted a structured synthetic phonics reading and spelling program, with an underlying focus on phonological and phonemic awareness – crucial for building sight vocabulary and the underlying skills for reading and spelling development (Kilpatrick, 2016). Research has shown that students taught using a structured synthetic phonics approach develop better word reading, spelling and reading comprehension skills (Johnston et al, 2011).
Students at Yarra Me access a tailored structured synthetic phonics reading program, targeting the big 5 of literacy: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Students then practice these five skills through the use of decodable readers.
At Yarra Me School, oral language activities are fully integrated into the classroom program. In addition, students have the benefit of a Speech *athologist working with teachers and in the classroom, offering tailored oral language activities and support.
Yarra Me has also adopted a structured synthetic phonics reading and spelling program, with an underlying focus on phonological and phonemic awareness – crucial for building sight vocabulary and the underlying skills for reading and spelling development (Kilpatrick, 2016). Research has shown that students taught using a structured synthetic phonics approach develop better word reading, spelling and reading comprehension skills (Johnston et al, 2011).
Students at Yarra Me access a tailored structured synthetic phonics reading program, targeting the big 5 of literacy: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Students then practice these five skills through the use of decodable readers.
Building Interpersonal Skills
For Yarra Me School students, difficulties with pragmatics – interpreting and responding appropriately to social situations – is often an area of concern.
It’s important that students develop social skills as these skills are necessary in schools – for group work, interacting with teachers, developing friendships and academic development e.g. reading comprehension or verbal expression of ideas. An understanding of social skills brings with it development of expected behaviours, joint engagement, collaboration and self-regulation within group contexts (Sarapani et al. 2018).
At Yarra Me, social-emotional programs and skill development are explicitly targeted and taught so that the student can learn how their behaviour affects themselves and others. Students also learn strategies to support ongoing self-regulation and social connectiveness.
For Yarra Me School students, difficulties with pragmatics – interpreting and responding appropriately to social situations – is often an area of concern.
It’s important that students develop social skills as these skills are necessary in schools – for group work, interacting with teachers, developing friendships and academic development e.g. reading comprehension or verbal expression of ideas. An understanding of social skills brings with it development of expected behaviours, joint engagement, collaboration and self-regulation within group contexts (Sarapani et al. 2018).
At Yarra Me, social-emotional programs and skill development are explicitly targeted and taught so that the student can learn how their behaviour affects themselves and others. Students also learn strategies to support ongoing self-regulation and social connectiveness.