Encouraging connections in the classroom and at home

Tell us a little bit about your school.

Central Coast Grammar School is based in Erina Heights, NSW. We have over 1400 students across K to 12 and believe that all members of our community should treat one another with kindness, honour, and respect.

Why is the R U OK? message important to your school community?

We know conversations can change lives and we want to make sure we keep looking out for and lending support to the people in our world who might need it. If we all continue to have these important conversations whenever we think someone might be struggling with life’s ups and downs, we can help people feel connected and supported long before they’re in crisis.

We also know that life for many families is busy. R U OK? Day helps sparks conversations and connections at school and at home. If families can see what the school is doing in class, they can connect with their child at home and have meaningful and important conversations that could make a big difference.

What activities did your school community take part in for R U OK?

R U OK?Day is an annual event on our school calendar and an important part of our wellbeing focus. This year we wanted to use our school management platform, MyCCGS, to bring together a week of messages, information and stories for families, students and staff alike – a homepage for everything R U OK? related. We wanted the whole community to have access to the information so we could give families the chance to spark R U OK? conversations at home.

Activities and lessons were delivered to specific year groups, messages were shared on the MyCCGS platform targeting K to 6 and Years 7 to 12 and were viewed nearly 3,000 times by students, staff and families. These key messages and videos were then populated onto our R U OK? homepage. School signage and posters were also displayed, making use of digital screens and monitors to share important messages through the week.

What did students do to support the day and encourage meaningful connections and conversations?

We chose to use the School’s social media platforms to get key messages out and involve students in the discussion. The ‘It doesn’t matter how you ask. Just ASK’ Instagram reel involved students saying, ‘Are you OK?’ in different languages helping to show our community that it really doesn’t matter how you ask the question, you just need to ask it. A group of Year 9 students created another Instagram video outlining the four steps to an R U OK? conversation in a short skit. These videos helped normalise an R U OK? conversation for students and show just how simple it can be.

Thanks Central Coast Grammar School for taking part and for encouraging meaningful connections at school, not just on R U OK?Day, but all year round.