From Ad Hoc Wellbeing Programs to a Daily Habit Every Teacher Trusts: Nichols Point Primary School’s Two-Year Journey
Nichols Point Primary School, a growing government primary school on the edge of Mildura in regional Victoria, began trialling Life Skills GO in 2023 and has since embedded it across the whole school, from the wellbeing team who tested it first to every classroom that now checks in each morning. The daily check-in captures student voice, belonging, wellbeing and readiness to learn alongside attendance and behaviour, so staff can better understand what may be sitting beneath a change in a student’s mood, engagement or work.
What that makes possible is a school able to identify students who may need support at the earliest, tier one level, well before a concern escalates into a behavioural incident or a call home, while removing the extra admin that sank the wellbeing programs the school tried before it.
The Story in 60 Seconds
A short summary for anyone short on time. Everything below goes deeper.
The Challenge
The school had tried wellbeing programs on an ad hoc basis, and many did not stick. It needed a way to identify students at the tier one level without adding to teachers’ mornings.
What They Did
A wellbeing team, one teacher from each unit, trialled the check-in first, and it then ran inside the roll-marking routine every classroom already used.
What Changed
Staff can identify students earlier, before a concern becomes a tier two or tier three issue, and the whole school started the check-in from day one this year.
Try This First
Trial it with a small team, and ride on a habit staff already have.
Who Is Nichols Point Primary School?
A government primary school around ten minutes from Mildura, in Victoria’s Sunraysia region, with around 380 students learning in fully open-plan spaces across a campus built roughly twenty years ago.
Read more about the school
Nichols Point is one of the larger primary schools in its region, and it is still growing. It sits in a recognised growth area, zoned to a community that includes a large farming population, with many families connected to the citrus industry around Mildura. The school also draws from a lower socioeconomic zone, so its car park at pick-up time can run from an older vehicle to a much newer one in the same line. Staff see this mix as a strength, since it keeps students grounded in a wide range of experience rather than a single kind of community.
Wellbeing at Nichols Point is led by a dedicated Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader, a role that sits inside a pilot program run through the University of Melbourne. It is a role that, by its own description, probably would not have existed even four or five years ago. Most teachers will say that the wellbeing and mental health side of the job takes up more of their time than it once did, and Nichols Point created a dedicated leadership role to meet that need directly, rather than leaving it to be absorbed into an already full teaching day.
A wellbeing team that tests before it trusts
Rather than rolling any new program out to the whole staff at once, Nichols Point built a wellbeing team of one teacher from each unit in the school and used that group to trial new approaches first. Life Skills GO went through the same process, tested by the wellbeing team before it ever reached a full staff meeting.
Ryan DohertyMental Health and Wellbeing Leader“We’re pretty lucky that our school, we’ve got a fantastic leadership that will, if we find something that we’d like to have a go at implementing, they just say, yep, get out there and have a crack at it. We’ll fail fast, and we love that.”
Before Life Skills GO: Wellbeing Programs That Were Hit and Miss
Before 2023, Nichols Point cared about wellbeing but had tried a series of programs brought in on an ad hoc basis. Some worked. Many did not stick. The school was looking for a way to identify students at the earliest, tier one level, without adding another job to an already full morning.
Programs That Did Not Stick
Nichols Point had run a number of wellbeing programs over the years. Some were a hit, others a miss, and none of them gave staff a consistent, whole-school way to see how students were arriving at school day to day.
Read more
Today, the daily check-in sits inside the routine teachers already use each morning, so it has become the one wellbeing habit that has stayed consistent since it began.
No Efficient Way to Spot Tier One
The initial problem the school was trying to solve was simply identifying students at that basic, tier one level, before a concern grew into something that needed a tier two or tier three response. Without a fast, whole-class way to do this each morning, the students who slipped under the radar were often the ones who were not displaying obvious negative behaviour and were still getting their work done.
Every New Tool Meant More Admin
Any new approach risked adding fifteen or twenty minutes onto a morning that did not have it to spare. The school did not want to add more workload onto teachers who were already trying to get their day started and their roll marked.
Ryan DohertyMental Health and Wellbeing Leader, Nichols Point Primary School“Most teachers will tell you that the wellbeing, health, mental health and wellbeing side of things just seems to take up a lot of your time these days. Hence my position probably didn’t exist even four or five years ago. So there is a need for it, and I’m all for any programs or anything that helps our job and makes our job easier.”
Building Buy-In: Support Students, Not Add to Their Morning
A question other schools ask Nichols Point is how it got consistent, whole-staff buy-in so quickly. Part of the answer is that the school did not treat this as collecting more data. It framed the change as an efficient way to identify students who needed support, without adding to a morning that was already busy.
Read the full buy-in story
The initial problem Nichols Point set out to solve was simply identifying students who needed support at that early, tier one level. The school was explicit that it did not want to add workload onto teachers, so any new approach needed to fit inside the roll-marking block teachers already used each morning, rather than adding a fifteen or twenty minute task before the day even began.
That is not to say every part of the rollout was frictionless. The school deliberately did not explain every feature at once. It did not go into the context settings or individual logins in the early stages, choosing instead to introduce the check-in itself first and add the rest gradually so nothing felt overwhelming.
Leadership also modelled the change by giving the wellbeing team room to test it first. As Ryan puts it, the school’s leadership backs a good idea and lets staff have a crack at it, which meant the wellbeing team could trial the check-in, gather feedback and iron out any teething problems before it ever reached the rest of the staff.
Lead with what it frees up, not what it collects
Frame the change around identifying students who need support more efficiently, not around gathering more data.
Trial with a small, representative group first
Nichols Point’s wellbeing team, one teacher from every unit, tested the check-in before it went any further.
Get real feedback before you scale it
The wellbeing team’s feedback was, in Ryan’s words, all really positive, which gave leadership the confidence to move to the next stage.
Introduce it to whole staff once it is proven
In Term 4 of 2023, Nichols Point rolled the check-in out across the whole staff, having already tested it with the wellbeing team.
Keep the explanation simple
Ryan took the whole staff through how the program worked, its simplicity, and how it would help both their teaching and their day.
Connect the benefit directly to a teacher’s day
Ryan told staff plainly that the buy-in would make their job easier: happier students, fewer behaviour problems, and fewer of the two or three phone calls home some nights over behaviour or wellbeing issues.
Ryan DohertyMental Health and Wellbeing Leader, Nichols Point Primary School“I think if you can kind of get that buy-in from staff, that it’s gonna make your job easier, and you’re gonna have happier kids, you’re gonna have less behaviour problems. You’re not gonna have to make two or three phone calls every night to parents through either behaviours or wellbeing issues. It’s kind of a no-brainer.”
Embedding It: Start With the Habit You Already Have
Nichols Point’s rollout did not start with a launch. It started with the smallest sustainable habit the school already had, marking the roll, and built outward from there.
We Started With the Wellbeing Team
The check-in was trialled first with the wellbeing team, one teacher from each unit in the school, before it went to anyone else. The team gave the school a base of data behind it and surfaced any teething problems early.
Riding on a Habit Teachers Already Had
Nichols Point already used interactive whiteboards for students to mark the roll each morning. The check-in sat inside that same routine, so it was “no kind of extra add-on to what they were doing anyway.” The teacher turns the roll-marking screen over to the students and the check-in happens at the same time.
Make It Part of the Routine
Most students check in before the bell even rings. For the rest, there is a short window while teachers mark the roll, and any follow-up conversation can happen from the classroom or be referred on.
Give the Team Permission to Act
Teachers were given permission to act on what they saw directly. If a teacher identified a group of students who needed to work on something before the day started, they were told to just do it, rather than wait for a referral.
Protect the Consistency
Everyone was using it consistently by the end of the first year, and this year it was kicked off from day one.
Ryan DohertyMental Health and Wellbeing Leader“It’s just that real quick, short check-in with the students, so you can just get a really quick snapshot of how their day’s going so far, the kind of night they’ve had, and it gives you that raw data straight away.”
Every Student Known: Two Years of Change
The shift at Nichols Point is best seen over time, from a trial with a small wellbeing team in 2023 to a whole-school habit that now runs from the first day of the year.
Before · 2023
- We ran wellbeing programs on an ad hoc basis, and many did not stick.
- We had no efficient, whole-class way to identify students at the tier one level.
- We relied on a teacher noticing a behavioural incident or calling for help.
- Quiet students who were still getting their work done were easy to miss.
- We were reluctant to add anything that meant more workload or lost learning time.
- Any new tool risked sitting outside the routines teachers already had.
The Shift · A Daily Check-In Inside the Roll
- The wellbeing team, one teacher per unit, trials the check-in first and reports back.
- The check-in runs inside the same interactive whiteboard routine used to mark the roll.
- The Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader reviews the executive dashboard each morning after rolls are marked.
- Students showing signs of emotional overload are followed up proactively, rather than waited on.
- Data feeds into the school’s tiered wellbeing referral process and its Learning and Support meetings.
- Leadership reviews the data during leadership meetings, so the whole team stays aware of what is happening.
After · Two Years On
- Staff can see how students are arriving at school and what they may be bringing in with them.
- Students at the tier one level can be identified earlier, before a concern becomes a tier two or tier three issue.
- Every student checks in as part of the existing morning routine, with no extra admin.
- Quiet students who are not displaying obvious behaviour can still be identified through their check-in data.
- The check-in has become the one wellbeing habit that has stayed consistent since it began.
- The whole school rolled it out from day one this year, rather than easing back into it.
Ryan DohertyMental Health and Wellbeing Leader, Nichols Point Primary School“There have been a few that we’ve definitely identified a lot earlier using the morning check-ins. So yeah, that’s been really valuable for us.”
What They Can See Now That They Couldn’t Before
The change at Nichols Point shows up differently depending on where you sit in the school. For students, teachers, the Learning and Support Team and leadership, what they can now see and act on has shifted.
- Students have a daily moment when someone asks how they are.
- Older students can check in privately through an individual login, rather than in front of the whole class.
- Students whose check-ins flag emotional overload are followed up before a behavioural incident, not after.
- Some students are starting to put feelings into writing through wellbeing journal entries, at their own pace.
“It’s them actually telling you how they’re feeling, so we should be listening to that, and you’ve gotta act on it. The kids are trying to tell us something, and we need to listen.”
Ryan Doherty, Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader- Teachers get a quick, whole-class snapshot of how students are arriving, without leaving their existing routine.
- The check-in runs inside the same screen used to mark the roll, so there is no separate log-in or extra step.
- Teachers can identify a group of students who need support and act on it themselves, before the day even starts.
- Teachers spend less time guessing or going around the room to ask every student individually how they are.
“It’s no kind of extra add-on to what they were doing anyway. It’s just, yeah, pretty time-saving, I guess as well.”
Ryan Doherty, Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader- The check-in feeds a wellbeing referral process with clear indicators for tier one and tier two support.
- Individual student profiles can be printed and used in wellbeing or Learning and Support meetings.
- Behaviour, attendance, academic results and student voice can be looked at together, rather than in isolation.
- Support plans can target relationships and readiness to learn, not only behaviour management.
“If you’re just looking at the behaviour side of things and just putting students all on behaviour management plans, you’re probably just gonna be back to square one pretty quickly. But if you’re looking after the wellbeing of the student first and foremost, you are gonna have a lot more success with re-engaging them back in school.”
Ryan Doherty, Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader- Leadership reviews check-in data during leadership meetings, staying aware of patterns across the school.
- The Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader can give feedback to teams based on what the dashboard is showing.
- A newsletter can now go directly to families with practical tips, such as on sleep, based on what students are telling the school through their check-ins.
- Families are brought into the conversation as partners, rather than only being contacted when something has gone wrong.
“We put something in the newsletter, just some tips and tricks around, you know, how important sleep is, and some different things to support, not just the kids directly in the classroom, but parents as well and the community.”
Ryan Doherty, Mental Health and Wellbeing LeaderGiving Every Student a Voice
Nichols Point’s check-in flexes across a wide age range, from the youngest students checking in as a class to older students who now check in privately. Two years in, the school is still finding new ways to give students room to be honest.
Built Into a Habit They Already Knew
Because the check-in sits inside the same interactive whiteboard routine students already used to mark the roll, most students check in before the bell even rings. It is, as Ryan puts it, pretty seamless now. Students know the routine, put their bags away, see it on the screen when they walk in, and check in.
Individual Logins Made Room for Honesty
Older students tend to be less open in front of their peers during a whole-class check-in. Some will simply press a response to move on and keep everyone off their backs. From this year, Nichols Point began giving individual logins to older students so they can check in privately, and staff have noticed those students tend to be more open and honest while doing that.
The Day the Data Revealed How Tired Everyone Was
When the check-in first started, the number of students coming in and saying they were tired surprised the school. It had not expected quite how many students would say that this was how they were feeling, day after day.
A Check-In Becomes a Family Conversation
Rather than treat the tiredness data as background noise, the school turned it into a teaching moment, with the whole class talking through why they might not be sleeping well. The school then took the same message home through the newsletter, with simple tips on sleep and switching off devices before bed, aimed at students, parents and the wider community.
Starting to Put Feelings Into Words
One senior class recently began trialling wellbeing journal entries, an optional feature the school offered rather than pushed on students. A handful of students in that class chose to put in a journal entry, a small but genuine first step for a cohort the school describes as needing extra support and often reluctant to share.
Behaviour Is Rarely the Whole Story
Staff are learning to look past the behaviour itself to what may be sitting underneath it. As Ryan puts it, the kids are trying to tell us something, and staff need to listen, rather than assume a change in behaviour has no cause worth exploring.
“The amount of kids that were coming in and saying that they were tired, now I just, it just blew my mind about how many kids are just saying that this is how they’re feeling. So we just went, right, let’s make this a teaching moment.”Ryan Doherty, Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader, Nichols Point Primary School
What We Learned: Key Takeaways
Two years of embedding Life Skills GO, distilled into what Ryan would tell a school starting out.
Explain the Why to Get the Buy-In
Frame the change as an efficient way to identify and support students, never as collecting more data. When staff see it will make their job easier, resistance turns into advocacy.
Trial It With a Small Team First
Let a representative group, such as one teacher per unit, test the check-in and surface any teething problems before it goes to the whole staff.
Ride on a Habit Staff Already Have
Connect the check-in to something teachers already do, such as marking the roll, so it never reads as an extra add-on to an already busy morning.
Consistency Is Everything
A check-in only becomes trustworthy data once it is used every day. Nichols Point moved from a term four rollout to starting the whole school from day one the following year.
Give Older Students Room for Privacy
Whole-class check-ins can feel exposed for older students. Individual logins gave Nichols Point’s older cohort a way to be more open and honest.
It Is Not Just a Data Tool
The goal was never to collect more data. It was to find an efficient way to identify and support students without adding to teachers’ workload. The whole-school data is the byproduct of that support.
“I think if you can kind of get that buy-in from staff, that it’s gonna make your job easier, and you’re gonna have happier kids, you’re gonna have less behaviour problems. It’s kind of a no-brainer. And look, our staff are pretty willing to try new things, which can be rare at some schools. One really good thing about our staff is we’re willing to give things a crack, and it’s kind of one in, all in.”
Bring Student Voice, Wellbeing and School Data Together All in One Place
Book a personalised conversation with a Life Skills GO education specialist. We will guide you through a short, interactive demonstration and show how the platform supports early identification, student voice, engagement and belonging, partnerships with families and carers, proactive intervention, staff decision-making and continuous whole-school improvement.
More about the demo, and reports
You will also have the opportunity to ask questions, explore how Life Skills GO could support your school’s priorities and determine whether it is the right fit for your community.
Life Skills GO supports schools and systems of every size, sector and context, including metropolitan, regional and remote schools, government, Catholic, independent and specialist settings, and support classes.
Put the Reports Into the Meetings You Already Hold
At Nichols Point, the value of the daily check-in was never the check-in itself. The value came from what happened next, and the school built that into meetings and routines it already had, rather than creating new ones.
Each morning, once rolls are marked, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader reviews the executive dashboard directly, to see which students are showing signs of emotional overload or may need extra support that day. Individual student profiles can be printed and used in wellbeing and Learning and Support Team meetings, and the same information is reviewed by leadership during leadership meetings, so the whole team stays aware of what is happening across the school.
Staff do not need to build reports, analyse spreadsheets or become data analysts to use the information. The dashboard surfaces what leaders and teachers are already looking for, and notifications mean the school does not have to go searching for a concern manually. The data also informs the scope and sequence of the school’s wellbeing curriculum, with the wellbeing team reviewing what the check-ins are showing roughly every five weeks and adjusting lessons and resources to match the need, rather than teaching a fixed program regardless of what students are indicating.
Take These Ideas Further
Go deeper on the themes in Nichols Point’s story, from a webinar replay featuring Ryan Doherty to free expert guides your team can use tomorrow.
Related Webinars
Ryan Doherty and Nichols Point Primary School feature in this Life Skills GO deep dive webinar on moving from ad hoc, anecdotal check-ins to consistent, whole-school wellbeing data.
Deep Dive Webinar: Delivering Consistent Data-Informed Wellbeing Support for a Whole School, with Nichols Point Primary School
FeaturingNikki Bonus (Life Skills GO) & Ryan Doherty (Nichols Point Primary School)
Watch the ReplayFree Guides & Expert Insights
Practical downloads for educators, leaders and families, including neuroscience-backed insight on emotions, learning and wellbeing.
Neuroscience of Emotions and Learning
FeaturingDr Mark Williams (Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience) with Nikki Bonus, on how emotions shape learning, grounded in brain research and Life Skills GO practice.
Get the Free ResourceWhy Students Disengage and What Helps Them Reconnect
FeaturingA practical guide from leading education, wellbeing and neuroscience experts, including Dr Mark Williams OAM, Professor Geoff Masters AO, Nikki Bonus and Karen Robertson.
Get the Free ResourceMore Guides & Resources
The full Life Skills GO resource library, including guides on whole-school wellbeing implementation, measurement and classroom practice.
Browse the Resource LibraryBook a personalised meeting with our education wellbeing specialist, to show you how Life Skills GO can help you achieve your school’s wellbeing goals. We will guide you through a short interactive demo and answer any questions to help you determine if Life Skills GO is right for your school.
Book a meeting with our education wellbeing specialist