From Afternoon Conversations to a Five-Minute Morning Habit: Gum Flat Public School’s First Six Months with Life Skills GO
Gum Flat Public School is a small teaching-principal school in rural New South Wales, around 15 kilometres from Inverell, with 29 students from Kindergarten to Year 6. The school began using Life Skills GO earlier this year, and six months in it is embedded into the daily classroom routine, capturing student voice, belonging and readiness to learn each morning so staff can better understand what may sit beneath a student’s mood or behaviour on a given day.
By surfacing patterns to the small team of staff who already know each child well, Life Skills GO can help the school notice a change earlier, have more informed conversations with families, and act before a concern is missed in an already busy day, without adding to staff workload.
The Story in 60 Seconds
A short summary for anyone short on time. Everything below goes deeper.
The Challenge
With no learning support teacher on site most days, wellbeing evidence relied on afternoon conversations and memory, with nothing recorded to return to.
What They Did
Margarete brought every staff member to the first session, kept the check-in simple and built a five-minute morning habit.
What Changed
Staff can now see how students are arriving each morning, and a pattern across a couple of days may prompt a closer look and a conversation with families.
Try This First
See it in practice, keep it simple and protect five minutes each morning.
Who Is Gum Flat Public School?
A small government primary school around 15 kilometres from Inverell, in a farming and grazing community with no connection to town water, so the school depends on rainwater for its drinking supply and toilets.
Read more about the school
Gum Flat has 29 students across two classes, Kindergarten to Year 2 and Years 3 to 6, taught by a teaching principal and one classroom teacher, supported by a School Learning Support Officer, casual and relief staff and long-serving office staff. Over the past eight years the community has shifted from around half local farming families and half families travelling in from town, to roughly 80 per cent farming and grazing families today.
Relationships sit at the centre of how the school works. Staff see around 80 per cent of parents and carers in person each afternoon at pickup, and the school’s small size means every student is known personally by every member of staff. Positive Behaviour for Learning is the school’s strategic direction, and wellbeing is treated as part of that framework rather than as a separate program.
A new partner in 2026
Principal Margarete Coddington first saw Life Skills GO demonstrated at a principal network day in Narabri the year before the school signed up. Gum Flat began using the platform this year, and is still in its first six months of embedding it into daily practice.
For a small school with a teaching principal, a School Learning Support Officer for five days a week and a learning support teacher for only two hours a week, the early priority has been building a simple, consistent habit rather than rolling everything out at once.
Margarete CoddingtonPrincipal“What gets me out of bed each morning to come to work is our beautiful school, and just the students. I actually teach 3 to 6, and having been here for 8 years, basically all the students that are here at the moment started in the preschool while I’ve been the principal. So I guess just following their learning journey through to graduation is pretty exciting. Yeah, just the love of the teaching.”
Before Life Skills GO: Wellbeing Held Together by Afternoon Conversations and Memory
Before Gum Flat began using Life Skills GO earlier this year, the school cared just as much about its students. What was missing was a consistent, simple way to record what staff were noticing and to see whether it was part of a pattern.
Nothing Concrete to Hold On To
With no learning support teacher on site most days and no office staff every day, gathering evidence about a student relied almost entirely on afternoon conversations at pickup, staff memory and professional observation. This work was genuine and considered, but it was not recorded anywhere staff could return to and compare over time.
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Today, a two-minute look at the morning check-in summary can surface a student who may need support, before the school relies solely on remembering an afternoon conversation from weeks earlier.
No Consistent System to Record It
Gum Flat only moved onto School Bytes as its administration system the year before, having relied on paper-based records before that. There was no dedicated way to capture how a student was feeling as they arrived at school, separate from marking the roll.
Easy to Lose a Pattern Between Days
With a small team stretched across many roles, a concern noticed on a Monday could be genuinely forgotten by the time a similar concern showed up on a Thursday, with no way to connect the two.
Margarete CoddingtonPrincipal“I didn’t want to be a student wellbeing workbook person, so where you just hand the workbook to the student, and they fill out pages, this and that. We were certainly doing plenty when it came to supporting students, but I just think we needed something simple that wasn’t going to be a burden on my staff, and that the students understood.”
Building Buy-In: Something Simple That Would Not Be a Burden on Staff
The question other small schools ask is how a teaching principal, already stretched across a classroom, an office and an executive role, found room to bring in something new. At Gum Flat, the answer started with seeing the platform used in practice, and choosing to trial it on the school’s own terms.
Read the full buy-in story
Margarete had attended principal network days for years where student wellbeing was discussed as an increasingly large issue. What she did not want was another workbook exercise handed to students to fill out. Seeing Life Skills GO demonstrated at a session in Narabri, with real examples of how the data could actually be used, was what persuaded her to give it a try.
That trial was deliberately low pressure. Gum Flat signed up knowing it did not have to work out. Staff have changed over the years, the school only moved onto School Bytes as its administration system the year before, and the school’s learning support teacher is only on site for two hours a week, so anything new had to earn its place quickly.
Margarete modelled the buy-in herself, making sure every member of staff, including relief and casual teachers and the School Learning Support Officer, was in the room for the very first session, rather than introducing it to teaching staff alone.
See it in practice first
Seeing real examples of how the data could be used at a principal network day was what made the difference, rather than a description of the platform on paper.
Choose something simple, not a workbook
Reject anything that becomes another worksheet handed to students. Look for something students understand quickly and staff do not have to manage on top of everything else.
Bring every staff member to the first session
RFF staff, casuals and the School Learning Support Officer were in the room for the first professional learning session, not just teaching staff.
Make the school development day a standing checkpoint
The first session ran for an hour and a half on a school development day at the start of the year. A second school development day this term was used to go through the resources available and how to analyse what the school was seeing.
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These days became the point where staff revisited the why, not just the how, and where questions from the first semester could be worked through together.
Consistent check-in points like these help a small staff keep a shared habit going, rather than leaving each teacher to work it out on their own.
Trial it with staff and students first
Gum Flat chose to start with staff and students only, holding off on telling parents and carers broadly until it had seen how the first semester went.
Let it sit inside what already ties in
Life Skills GO is expected to slot into the school’s existing Positive Behaviour for Learning framework and its evidence for the School Excellence Plan, rather than becoming a separate initiative.
Margarete CoddingtonPrincipal“We were certainly doing plenty when it came to supporting students, but I just think we needed something simple that wasn’t going to be a burden on my staff, and that the students understood. And that was when we saw that, but we’ll give it a go. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, then we don’t keep using it.”
Embedding It: A Five-Minute Morning Routine
Six months of embedding Life Skills GO at Gum Flat did not come from a big launch. It came from a small, protected morning habit, built around the school’s existing routine rather than replacing it.
We Started With the Morning Check-In
Every morning, students check in as part of the start of the school day. Gum Flat deliberately kept this separate to the roll, because the school found that worked better for its two classes.
Building Trust in the Data
The School Learning Support Officer, Kylie, sets the check-in up each morning and looks first at the bar showing students who are not yet ready for learning. If a name appears there, she clicks through to see who it is and what they checked in as.
Shared Screens, Not Personal Devices
Students do not check in on their own devices. The Kindergarten to Year 2 class uses a laptop set up at the back of the room, and the Years 3 to 6 class uses one at the front, with students taking turns to click their emotion and the context behind it, while the lesson gets underway.
The Support Has Been There From Day One
When staff were not sure how to use a feature early on, an email got a response within the hour. For a small school still adjusting to School Bytes as its administration system, that quick turnaround mattered.
Protect the Consistency
Kylie runs the check-in five mornings a week, and the classroom teacher checks in with her own students when Kylie is not there.
Margarete CoddingtonPrincipal“It was quite funny when we did first start. The K to 2 class had it on the board, so it was a bit of, oh, well, he put this down, and we had all these students that said they were tired because of screen time. We’re thinking, well, we know that you’re not on screen time, but they were just mimicking what the student before them had put. So now we just have it on a laptop, so they don’t do it on their own devices, and they come and click their emotion and also the context.”
Every Student Known: Six Months of Change
Gum Flat’s shift is still early, and the school is careful not to overstate it. What began as afternoon conversations and memory before this year has become a daily habit where student voice sits alongside what staff already know about each child.
Before · Early 2026
- We knew our students through afternoon conversations, professional observation and memory.
- We had no way to see how a student was arriving at school on a given morning, or whether they were ready to learn.
- Concerns raised by families depended on what came up in a chat at pickup, if anything came up at all.
- We responded to what we noticed in the moment, without a way to check whether it was part of a pattern.
- There was no consistent, whole-school way to record how a child said they were feeling as they arrived.
- Students who always said they were fine were taken at their word.
- Parent-teacher interviews covered academic progress, and wellbeing came up only if a staff member happened to raise it.
- We could not point to evidence of a change over a semester, only impressions.
- With a learning support teacher on site for two hours a week, there was limited time to look for patterns across the whole school.
- Wellbeing evidence for planning documents like the School Excellence Plan relied on what staff could recall.
The Shift · A Daily Habit
- A brief check-in each morning, kept separate to the roll, taking around five minutes to set up and review
- Kylie, the School Learning Support Officer, reviews the “not ready for learning” summary first thing each morning
- Anything that stands out is flagged to Margarete for a closer look
- Students use a shared classroom laptop, not personal devices, to check in and add context
- Printed check-in summaries are brought into parent-teacher interviews where relevant
- Staff are reminded regularly to look beyond the negative emotions, including at students who always check in happy
After · Six Months On
- Wellbeing check-ins now run daily across both classes at Gum Flat.
- Staff can see how students are arriving at school each morning, and whether that matches what is happening at home.
- A pattern across a couple of days, rather than a single off day, is what prompts a closer look.
- Students who quietly kept checking in as tired for most of a semester have been noticed and followed up with families.
- Staff are more alert to students who always check in happy, and are learning to ask what may sit beneath that.
- Printed check-in data has been used in parent-teacher interviews, giving families a concrete starting point for a conversation.
- Families have told the school they are pleased a concern was noticed and recorded, rather than left to memory.
- The check-in is expected to provide evidence for the school’s Positive Behaviour for Learning framework and its School Excellence Plan.
- Staff can look back over a semester and begin to ask whether something has genuinely changed, rather than relying on impression alone.
- New staff, RFF and casual teachers are brought into the same first-day session so the habit does not depend on any one person.
- Margarete describes the daily habit as one of the things the school is most glad it started, even six months in.
Margarete CoddingtonPrincipal“We had a few students that were tired, for 90 per cent of the semester. That sort of rang alarm bells for us. We know our students, we know that they do sports, this and that, but it was every day. So when we had the parent-teacher interviews, I had the printout of their check-ins, and it was, on a few occasions, a real light bulb moment. We’ve spoken to the students involved a couple of times, and they’re saying, well, I’m tired because of this, I’m not sleeping at night. The parents were quite pleased that we were noticing it, and that it was recorded.”
What They Can See Now That They Couldn’t Before
Even in six months, the change is showing up in how students are noticed, how the classroom runs, how the small team around each child shares what it knows, and how leadership and families talk to one another. Here is what Life Skills GO has made visible so far.
Now:
- A daily, private moment to say how they are feeling and why
- A record that a pattern, like being tired for weeks on end, may be noticed rather than missed
- A shared classroom laptop rather than a personal device, so every student checks in the same simple way
- Students who know staff are looking, not just collecting, what they check in
“We had a few students that were tired, for 90 per cent of the semester. That sort of rang alarm bells for us.”
Margarete Coddington, PrincipalNow:
- A quick view of readiness to learn before the lesson gets underway
- A settling routine, with brain break videos used to bring a class back together after recess or a break
- A reminder to look past the negative emotions to the students who always check in happy
- A shared classroom laptop that keeps the check-in quick and does not take time away from the lesson
“He was doing the breathing beforehand, and then he said, so easy, you just click on the videos. So he’s been doing that to settle down his little ones each time we go back into class from a break.”
Margarete Coddington, PrincipalNow:
- A morning summary reviewed by the School Learning Support Officer, who flags anything that stands out to the principal
- A printed check-in record that can be taken to a parent meeting or, where a family chooses, shared with a GP
- Student voice sitting alongside what staff already know from afternoon conversations
- A pattern across a couple of days, rather than a single off day, that prompts a conversation
“That instant feedback, I don’t act on it straight away, but then if there’s a pattern, within two days’ time, then we’re getting that straight away. That’s what we’re liking about it.”
Margarete Coddington, PrincipalNow:
- Printed check-in summaries used in parent-teacher interviews to open a specific conversation
- Families who have told the school they are pleased a concern was noticed and recorded
- A daily leadership routine of reviewing the morning check-in summary before the school day is properly underway
- A habit the school expects to use as evidence for its Positive Behaviour for Learning framework and School Excellence Plan
“The parents were quite pleased that we were noticing it, and that it was recorded.”
Margarete Coddington, PrincipalGiving Every Student a Voice
Gum Flat has two classes spanning Kindergarten to Year 6, so the check-in has to work for a five-year-old and an eleven-year-old alike. Six months in, the school is already seeing what that daily habit surfaces, including some honest teething moments along the way.
Simple Enough for Every Age
Gum Flat has kept the check-in to its initial, simpler set of emotions for now, because it is familiar to students. The school is considering introducing a wider palette next year, particularly for its older students in Years 3 to 6.
A Funny Start
When the Kindergarten to Year 2 class first checked in on a shared board, several students said they were tired because of screen time, despite not having had any. They were simply mimicking what the student before them had put. The school moved the check-in to a laptop so students check in individually rather than copying what they see on a shared screen.
Learning Not to Take Happy at Face Value
Staff have noticed students who click happy every single day, even on mornings when they know a student has not had a good time in the playground. Gum Flat now regularly reminds students the check-in is about how they are feeling in that moment, and staff are learning to look past the students who are always checking in happy, not just the ones showing obvious distress.
A Pattern Two Days Apart
A single tired check-in does not prompt action on its own. It is a pattern across a couple of days that gets the school’s attention, distinguishing a genuinely tired student from an ordinary off morning.
A Habit for Settling Back In
In the Kindergarten to Year 2 class, brain break videos are now used to settle students after a break, alongside breathing exercises the teacher already used.
Kept Separate From the Roll, on Purpose
Gum Flat chose to run its check-in separately from marking the roll, a deliberate decision so the check-in is treated as its own moment for a student to be asked how they are, rather than folded quietly into attendance.
“There may be students clicking happy all the time. But we know that they’re not happy. We try, every morning, to remind the kids that it’s about how they’re feeling at the moment. There may be one or two students that I can think of now that we know haven’t had a great morning in the playground, but they’re still ticking happy. So it’s not just the negative behaviours that we need to look for.”Margarete Coddington, Principal, Gum Flat Public School
What We Learned: Key Takeaways
Six months into embedding Life Skills GO, distilled into what Margarete would tell another small school starting out.
See It in Practice Before You Commit
Reading about a platform is not the same as seeing real examples of how the data gets used. That was what turned an idea into a decision.
It Is Not a Workbook, Keep It Simple
Choose something students understand quickly and staff are not left to manage as an extra task. If it feels like another worksheet, it will not last.
Bring Every Staff Member to the First Session
RFF, casual staff and the School Learning Support Officer need to understand the why from day one, not just the classroom teachers.
Protect Five Minutes Each Morning
A small, consistent habit, reviewed first thing, is more sustainable for a small staff than an elaborate system nobody has time to maintain.
Watch for the Ones Who Are Always Happy
It is not just the obvious distress that matters. Students who never check in as anything but happy deserve a second look too.
It Is Not Just a Data Tool
The value is in a child being asked how they are, every single morning, and in a small staff having a simple way to notice when that answer changes. The record is a byproduct of that habit, not the point of it.
“It’s simple, it’s not time-consuming. We’re still on the learning journey, so I still do, and we will ask for more professional development with the data side of things. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this, but it’s totally affordable for small schools.”
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 Gum Flat, the value of Life Skills GO was never just the daily check-in itself. The value has been in what happens next, and in how easily the information fits into meetings and conversations the school already has.
The morning check-in summary is reviewed as part of the school’s existing routine, first by the School Learning Support Officer and then, where something stands out, by the principal. Printed check-in records have been brought into parent-teacher interviews, giving families a concrete starting point rather than a general impression.
Staff do not need to build reports or learn a new system layered on top of School Bytes. School development days have been used to walk through the resources available and how to read what the school is seeing, so the habit stays something the whole staff can maintain, not just one person.
Take These Ideas Further
Go deeper on the themes in Gum Flat’s story, from the webinar session Margarete Coddington took part in, to free expert guides you can use with your team tomorrow.
Related Webinars
Margarete Coddington and Gum Flat Public School feature in this Life Skills GO Small Schools session on embedding wellbeing check-ins in a small, teaching-principal school.
Small Schools: A Conversation with Gum Flat Public School
FeaturingNikki Bonus (Life Skills GO) & Margarete Coddington (Gum Flat Public 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.
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