At Donvale, we believe in nurturing the whole child. We know that when children feel safe, supported and happy, they naturally become confident, engaged learners who can reach their full potential.
Our approach to supporting student wellbeing is comprehensive and caring. We've created a dedicated wellbeing space where children can find calm and comfort when they need it most. Our Grade 6 students take pride in their role as peer mediators, helping to foster kindness and resolve conflicts in the playground. Through our buddy programs, our senior students in Grades 5 and 6 form meaningful connections with our youngest learners, creating a warm sense of belonging across our school community.
All of this sits within our School Wide Positive Behaviour framework, which celebrates and encourages the positive choices our students make every day. Together, these programs create an environment where every child feels valued, supported and ready to learn.
Your child's wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do, because we know that happy, confident children are the foundation of a thriving learning community.
School Wide Positive Behaviour Schools (SWPBS)
Donvale Primary School is an SWPBS (School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support) school. SWPBS is a wellbeing-based approach that supports students by teaching them expected behaviours in a positive way, all staff having consistent responses to challenging behaviour and regularly acknowledging positive behaviours.
The SWPBS approach believes that students need to be taught expected behaviour, the same way they need to be taught literacy and numeracy skills.
SWPBS is an equitable and data-based approach that helps to improve student behaviour, wellbeing, and academic outcomes. It emphasises prevention-focused activities and reinforces positive behaviours.
Respectful Relationships
At Donvale Primary School, we embed a culture of respect and equality across our entire school community. The Victorian Curriculum F–10 supports this commitment by incorporating respectful relationships education into both the Health and Physical Education and Personal and Social Capability learning areas.
Through the Health and Physical Education curriculum, students gain the knowledge, skills, and understanding needed to build a strong sense of self and to develop and maintain safe, respectful relationships. In the Personal and Social Capability curriculum, students learn to recognise and manage their emotions, show empathy towards others, and establish positive, respectful connections.
These learning areas are supported by the Respectful Relationships program, which reinforces our whole-school approach to promoting inclusion, wellbeing, and mutual respect. This program is an important part of preparing students to thrive socially and emotionally, both at school and in the wider community.
