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Whole-School Berry Street Training.

Final Day Reflection from the Wellbeing Leaders

As our two-year journey through trauma-informed whole-school transformation reached its completion, we are pleased to share highlights from Day 4: Character, held at the St Joseph Campus on Monday 4^th August 2025. This pivotal session wrapped up our exploration of the Berry Street Education Model.

Over the past two years, our teachers engaged with the domains of the Berry Street Educational Model (BSEM), these were Body, Relationship, Stamina & Engagement, and finally, Character. The training equipped us with over 100 practical strategies to bring into our classrooms. We’ve already built some consistent, school-wide approaches to support students through this journey.

Day 4: Character (Cultivating Strength, Values & Pathways)

On this final day, we focused on nurturing each student’s character and values as a powerful lever for motivation and future success. Key takeaways included:

• Supporting students in articulating their own values, helping them to find personal meaning and direction.
• Using stories, metaphors, and role models, students identifying and developing their character strengths.
• Fostering cultural and community understanding, educators explored how values and strengths can be shared across diverse backgrounds.
• Empowering students toward future pathways, through recognising and employing character strengths, students begin to envision and undertake meaningful steps toward their aspirations.

As the Wellbeing Leaders, we are incredibly proud of the resilience, growth, and hope our staff have shown. Now, the real work begins:

• Embedding character strengths and values-based conversations into daily lessons and mentoring routines.
• Using our newly acquired tools to support individual students, particularly those requiring additional support.
• Ensuring that our implementation is consistent across classrooms and the College. We hope that every student experiences BSEM strategies as part of our shared school culture

Research shows this approach works, schools using the BSEM have seen more than two years of learning growth in one academic year, along with better attendance, classroom climate, and teacher wellbeing

Thank you to all our teachers who journeyed through this with the College. For your openness, dedication, and collaborative spirit. Embedding BSEM throughout our school not only enhances our students learning and engagement but fosters a safer, more compassionate school community.

- Mr Abraham Diab and Ms Helen Diab