Orah – Monitoring Student Wellbeing

Student wellbeing is important to us. Mood Checks is a neuroscience-backed mood tracker that helps students build emotional intelligence and reflect on what influences impact them the most. The pastoral team within KingsWay will get a bird’s eye view of how our students are tracking so we can be more responsive to their wellbeing needs.

A Mood Check measures a quantum of happiness and energy, based on an emoticon response a student gives to a question. A student selects factors that influence their current rating and can provide additional detail should they choose to. A student can elect to have a staff member follow-up with them.

Currently all Middle School, Junior Secondary, and Year 11 students complete Mood Checks. In future, use will be extended to Years 5 & 6 and Years 12 & 13. New Entrants and Year 1-4 will not use Orah.

Completing a mood check takes 30 seconds. It can take a couple of minutes should the student want to share more information about their current emotional state.

There is a limited window during the school day when mood checks are available. The timing of a mood check will vary depending on the area of the school your child is in.

The digital platform allows students to directly contact a dean or counsellor. There is a resource bank of carefully curated articles developed by the school that students can access should they feel the need. The school will also conduct its annual wellbeing survey using Orah.

Visibility is restricted to a student’s homeroom/Lifelab teacher, their dean, counsellor and upper pastoral leadership.

No, not unless your child chooses to share this information with you. The School encourages students to share openly with parents about their wellbeing.

We encourage students to talk with their parents about their wellbeing. While every circumstance is different, the school looks to include families as early as possible as we support our young people.

We encourage all students to participate but if parents do not want the school to be aware of a wellbeing concern volunteered by their child, then the parent can request their child not to participate.

No. Mood Check information is not retained for any formal school record.

No

Mood Check responses are regularly reviewed by Lifelab/Classroom teachers. Based on the nature of the responses and the frequency of concerns that might be raised, the teacher will speak with the student and determine the next best course of action. Generally, there are three possible options. The first is that the teacher is able to support the student through an initial conversation and follow-up actions. Another option is that parents are contacted with the aim of increasing support for the child. A further option is the teacher encourages the student to make a dean referral. This occurs for more serious pastoral concerns. Another option is that the student is encouraged to speak with a school counsellor.

The frequency of Mood Checks varies between daily and two times a week.

Mood Checks are designed to improve student wellbeing literacy and fluency so that they can better communicate their wellbeing when things are going well and when they are not.

1. For more information about Orah’s secure and private data storage click HERE.

Mood Check data is stored in Orah. It is stored in accordance with KingsWay’s personal data policy.

By law, KingsWay School is required to use Mood Check data for the purpose for which it is collected. That means it will be used to help students better understand their wellbeing and to help staff to be responsive to concerns.