Friday was the official launch of the Kids Matter program, a national initiative that gives Australian primary schools a framework to support and nurture students. 

Vice principal Kim Saddlier said the school felt the need to strengthen their current well-being programs and the Kids Matter initiative was a perfect chance to do so. 

“We are making sure that our students are feeling supported and respected at school,” she said. 

“The first component we are going to work through is creating a positive school community.”

Ms Saddlier said the initiative would improve the relationships of teachers, students and parents. 

“We are taking a whole-school approach to the program,” she said. 

“We have an action team that will work through the core components in the hope of making a difference to the social and emotional well-being of our students. 

“All classrooms will work on activities and we will be working on our school structure next year.”

Ms Saddlier said a group of students from grades 3 to 6 felt really strongly about Kids Matter and have created a student forum called United Classrooms to help implement the initiative’s core components. 

“These students wanted to get involved with the initiative, so they came up with the idea to meet and greet families every morning at the school gate,” she said. 

“They will just say ‘hello’ and ‘good morning’, so they felt comfortable coming into the school. 

“We are really proud of these kids.”