Student Wellbeing

At our school, student wellbeing and learning go hand in hand. We want every student to feel safe, included and ready to learn. Whether your child needs help with their mental, emotional, social or physical wellbeing, we are here to help them thrive at school and in daily life.

How we support student wellbeing

Supporting each student’s mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing is part of everyday school life.

We do this through:

teachers who help students feel welcome and included
access to school counsellors, school psychologists and specialist staff
programs that support health, social skills, attendance and positive behaviour
help for students who are new or changing year levels
clear expectations for behaviour and respectful relationships
staff who get to know each child and work closely with families
developing health care plans for students
open communication about wellbeing and support.

Read about our wellbeing and specialist support staff below.

✳️ HEAD TEACHER WELLBEING

Ms Bronwyn Jones promotes the academic, emotional, social and physical development of each student with a view that wellbeing is intrinsic to a students’ educational success.

Toronto High School runs a suite of wellbeing programs to support our RESPECT targets. This whole school positive wellbeing support links effective learning and teaching, positive climate, good discipline and community participation.

Our programs have three intervention levels each designed to meet the individual wellbeing needs of Toronto High School students:

• The Primary intervention level explicitly teaches Toronto High School’s RESPECT values and is delivered through whole school assemblies and Year Advisor lessons

• Secondary intervention measures address specific wellbeing needs of students. This level is delivered through small group programs following consultation with home. Students are withdrawn from their normal period of study for these programs. Support agencies from outside the high school environment come to our school to deliver these targeted courses

• Tertiary intervention measures address individual students’ specific wellbeing and behavioural objectives.

Otis - The Wellbeing Support Dog

✳️ STUDENT SUPPORT OFFICERS

Here at Toronto High School, we have two Student Support Officers (SSO) who are in the Wellbeing Hub in the Library. Our SSO's, Ruby and Amy, are Youth Workers who provide early intervention one on one support and targeted small group programs for student who might need extra support in social skills, emotional regulation and self-esteem. As a team they also run programs such as Lunch club, food hampers, lunch time activities and secondhand uniform. Our SSO's also have strong community relationships with external services to provide young people and their families with referrals to further support their wellbeing and engagement with education.

✳️ WELLBEING AND HEALTH IN-REACH NURSE

The Wellbeing & Health In-Reach Nurse Co-Ordinator program is a partnership between NSW Health and the NSW Department of Education. Elise Skillen is a clinical nurse specialist who will be working closely with our wellbeing and learning support teams. Elise is here to help support our students and their families with any health concerns they may have. Elise can help organise an assessment, assist with referrals to a medical or social service, and help follow up any treatment. Referrals to Elise can be made through the learning support team. Students over 14 years may wish to contact Elise directly at school, however students are encouraged to discuss their concerns with parents/carers.

✳️ SCHOOL COUNSELLORS

Our School Counsellors work within the Learning Support and Wellbeing Teams to provide psychological services for students. This can include assessments related to learning, behaviour and mental health; short-term counselling intervention for individual students; and referrals to external services. School Counsellors communicate with external practitioners and agencies to assist with sharing information between the school and these providers to support student outcomes.

Students may be referred to the School Counselling service via the Learning Support Team, the Wellbeing Team, other staff members, parents/carers and student self-referral. The School Counsellor office is located in the administration building.

Our School Counsellors are Tom Gasparre and Lauren Cohen.

✳️ SUPERVISOR OF GIRLS

Ms Kate Woodward and Ms Jordan Cadd are the Supervisors of Girls. Ms Woodward can be found in the Science Staffroom and Ms Cadd can be found in the PDHPE Staffroom, where students can discuss any problems they may have.

✳️ SUPERVISOR OF BOYS

Mr Kyle Bettinzoli is concerned with the welfare of the boys and he can be found in the PDHPE Staffroom.

✳️ EQUITY ADVISOR

Ms Kate Woodward, working with the LGBTQIA+ community of students at THS, can be found in the Science Staffroom.

✳️ YEAR ADVISORS

Year Advisors play an important role in our school. They are experienced teachers who are appointed to help students with any problems they may have at school. Year Advisors also help students to devise strategies to overcome their problems. Year Advisors guide students throughout the year on a varied range of matters, including but not limited to attendance; progress in courses; study skills; group unity; individual student concerns, etc. Parents and caregivers may arrange interviews regarding any issues of concern with the relevant Supervisor or Year Advisor.

Our Year Advisors for 2025 are

🔸 Year 7 Linda Chapman

🔸 Year 8 Kane Haggett

🔸 Year 9 Cameron Aspinall

🔸 Year 10 Jarrad Penfold

🔸 Year 11 Matthew Sharpe (relieving Ashley Robson)

🔸 Year 12 Rebecca Field

✳️ ABORIGINAL STUDENT SUPPORT

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are further supported by our Aboriginal Education Team and Clontarf.

Two Senior Students