Home >Our Schools > Curriculum/Learning Programs > Wellbeing

Children and young people are at the heart of all our endeavours in Catholic education.

As unique environments in which faith, culture and life are brought into harmony Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne promote wellbeing and human flourishing by nurturing the whole person – their spiritual, cognitive, physical, emotional and social selves. This is a journey in hope and towards hope, undertaken in partnership with parents, who are the first educators of their children.
 
In Catholic schools, wellbeing is understood to encompass all dimensions of a learner’s life - their body, mind and spirit. Wellbeing, as a central outcome of schooling, is integral to learning excellence, good health and life success [4]. Put simply, a positive sense of wellbeing can foster higher levels of engagement, school connectedness, emotional vitality, psychosocial functioning and academic performance. It is a key factor in enabling children and young people to contribute to society and enjoy meaningful and spiritually enriched lives.
 
eXcel: Wellbeing for learning in Catholic school communities has been developed as an explicit, holistic framework to inform and guide pedagogical practice, curriculum design and policies in order to strengthen children and young people’s wellbeing and learning outcomes. Four interdependent domains - ENABLE, CONNECT, ENGAGE and LEARN (eXcel) - have been identified as the core dimensions for wellbeing and learning in Catholic school communities. Underpinned by the principles of inclusion, empowerment, engagement and participation, eXcel assists schools to better understand and foster wellbeing – everyday.
  
Highlighting the integral link between wellbeing, engagement and lifelong achievement, eXcel identifies and describes the key features of a whole-school approach to wellbeing. It provides Catholic schools with a framework through which to set goals and make decisions about how and when these will be achieved.

In today’s complex and interconnected world, eXcel: Wellbeing for learning in Catholic school communities acknowledges the importance of empowering all children and young people with the knowledge and skills to nurture their own wellbeing and contribute to that of others. It affirms our ongoing commitment to supporting ‘rich, deep and varied learning experiences’ for our students so that they may develop as optimistic, resilient young people of faith, ready to be effective members of community, contributing to and enriching the world around them.
 

The mission, and privilege, of the Catholic school is to build a community, where authentic relationships based on love provide the means and the support for all students to grow and flourish into the fullness of life.
Archbishop Denis Hart, Catholic Education Melbourne Strategic Plan 2015-2019 (p.1)

Wellbeing is critical to children and young people’s learning and life outcomes. Teaching wellbeing in schools enables safe and respectful school communities; connects children, young people, families and staff through collaborative and caring relationships; engages students through experience that motivate, empower, and inspire; and reframes the learning of wellbeing as an integral component of broader academic learning.