From an Untracked Check-In to Evidence Families Cannot Argue With: Stockton Public School’s Two-Year Journey
Stockton Public School is a preschool to Year 6 government school of around 300 students in a working-class community near Newcastle, New South Wales. The school has partnered with Life Skills GO for two years, building toward a three-year commitment, and has embedded the daily check-in inside the same School Bytes routine staff already use to mark the roll, capturing student voice and readiness to learn alongside attendance and behaviour information.
That everyday habit now gives staff a way to notice when a student’s check-in looks different from usual, to bring evidence into conversations with families, and to let children present their own wellbeing tracking at student-led conferences, all without adding a new task to an already full morning.
The Story in 60 Seconds
A short summary for anyone short on time. Everything below goes deeper.
The Challenge
Zones of Regulation language was in every classroom, but nothing was tracked, and only incidents were formally recorded.
What They Did
Jodie Holt attached the check-in to the School Bytes roll routine, set no mandate at first and began with the willing staff.
What Changed
Staff can notice when a student’s check-in looks different, bring evidence into conversations with families and let children present their own tracking.
Try This First
Give teachers the tool without adding the task, and commit for three years.
Who Is Stockton Public School?
Stockton Public School is a government school serving around 300 children from Preschool to Year 6, in a working-class community near Newcastle, New South Wales. Principal Jodie Holt has led the school for seven years.
Read more about the school
The school includes one of the roughly 100 preschools attached to a New South Wales primary school, giving its youngest children, four-year-olds, a transition-to-school program before they reach Kindergarten. Jodie Holt describes a community where parents and carers are working, and children get themselves to school under their own steam, a working-class community she says is visible every day in the bikes and scooters parked in the yard, whatever the weather.
Belonging is central to how the school talks about wellbeing. Wellbeing sits alongside attendance, behaviour and academic results as one of the things Jodie Holt and her staff use to understand a child, not as a separate program bolted on to the timetable. Before Life Skills GO, the school already used Zones of Regulation language, asking students whether they were in “green zone” and ready to learn, but that language was not consistently tracked.
Two years in, building toward three
Stockton’s relationship with Life Skills GO grew out of a two-year data champions project with Dr Selina Fisk, which gave Jodie Holt and her executive team a framework for thinking about wellbeing data, where it is stored and what a school is obliged to do with it once collected. Life Skills GO check-ins were introduced alongside that project, slowly, and Jodie Holt has said she wanted a three-year commitment from the outset, describing herself as someone who stays with an approach rather than abandoning it at the first sign of difficulty.
Two years on, the check-in is a daily part of the morning routine in every classroom, and the school is beginning to look at how that information might sit alongside attendance and learning support data for a more connected view of each child.
Jodie HoltPrincipal“One, knowing your students was part of the teaching standards, but having a way of monitoring that and really knowing when something is off, or knowing when something might be happening in that little person’s home life. This gives them an opportunity to share that and a teacher to follow up on it and see what’s happening. So that’s... it filled that gap for us, a way of a regular check-in that’s monitored, tracked.”
Before Life Skills GO: Wellbeing Measured Only by What Had Already Gone Wrong
Before the school introduced Life Skills GO, Jodie Holt describes a school that already cared about wellbeing but had no consistent way to record it. The language of self-regulation was everywhere. The data behind it was not.
Nothing Concrete to Hold On To
Staff had put Zones of Regulation in place as a way of asking students how they were feeling and whether they were ready to learn. Some students would indicate they were not in “green zone”, and that was common language across the school. But that information was not tracked. A teacher might notice a child had checked in as struggling on a given day, but there was no consistent record of it.
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Today, that same check-in sits inside the school’s daily routine, and staff can see how a student is checking in over time rather than relying on memory of a single moment.
Only the Negative Was Measured
The formal data the school did collect and analyse was negative incident data, logged as major, minor and moderate incidents. Jodie Holt has said she wanted a school that also captured joy and celebration, not only what had gone wrong. There was no equivalent, structured way to record the positive side of a child’s day.
No Way to Follow Up
Some classrooms had previously used an anonymous question box, letting a child put in whatever they wanted to say. Jodie Holt has described it as a great idea in theory, but one with a real limitation: if a child disclosed something distressing or important, staff had little to no way of finding out who had written it or following up with them.
Jodie HoltPrincipal“We were looking for exactly that. So, we had put in place zones of regulation as a check-in. How are you feeling? Are you in green zone? Are you ready to learn? Some students would indicate they weren’t in green zone, that was really common language in the school. But we weren’t tracking that data.”
Building Buy-In: Give the Tool, Do Not Add the Task
The question other schools most often ask Jodie Holt is how she got a busy staff to take on a daily check-in without it feeling like one more thing on an already full morning.
Read the full buy-in story
Her answer starts with what teachers were already doing. Every class already marked the roll each morning through School Bytes, with students pressing an icon to say they had arrived. Jodie Holt framed the Life Skills GO check-in as the next step of that same routine, not a separate task. To her executive team, she talked about it as a push and a pull: the push was a genuine desire to start tracking wellbeing data properly, and the pull was that she was handing teachers a tool to do something many of them were already trying to do informally, rather than asking them to build something new.
Jodie Holt is honest that this was not without friction. Asking teachers to take on anything extra in an already jammed timetable risks the response of what has to be cut to make room. Her framing was deliberately built to head that off, but she has also said plainly that leadership’s own next step, bringing Life Skills GO data together with attendance and learning support information, is work the school has not yet done well, describing it as “our next section of work.”
Leadership modelled the habit rather than mandating it. Jodie Holt and her executive staff worked through a two-year data champions project with Dr Selina Fisk alongside the early rollout, which gave the leadership team language and confidence before asking classroom teachers to adopt the same habit.
What became a standing routine was using the check-in data in the conversations the school was already having with families. When a parent raised a concern that their child did not want to come to school, staff could bring evidence into that conversation instead of relying on impressions alone. That same evidence now also appears twice a year in student-led conferences, where children present their own Life Skills GO tracking to their parents as part of the PowerPoint they prepare themselves.
Lead with the why
Frame the check-in around supporting students more effectively, not around collecting more data for its own sake.
Connect it to what teachers already do
Attach the check-in to the School Bytes roll-marking routine every class already used, so it reads as the next step, not an extra task.
Build leadership confidence first
Work through a data champions project on what wellbeing data means and what a school is obliged to do with it, before asking classroom teachers to adopt the habit.
Set no mandate at first
Encourage staff to “have a play, have a go” rather than requiring daily check-ins from day one.
Go where the willingness is
Start with the staff who are keen, let them talk about it in staff meetings, and let interest spread rather than chasing every sceptic early.
Put the reports into the conversations you already hold
Bring check-in evidence into existing parent conversations and into the school’s twice-yearly student-led conferences, so the data has somewhere real to land.
Jodie HoltPrincipal“And sometimes you’ve got to work with your teachers, and sometimes you’ve got to, you know, find those... I always talk to the executive staff about the push and the pull, so if I want to ask them to do something, where’s the pullback from me? So the push was, we really want to track this data, and we really want to put this in place. Yes, it’s going to seem like a bit of extra work, but I’m giving the tool to do that, and it’s not extra.”
Embedding It: Slowly, Slowly
Stockton did not launch Life Skills GO whole school on day one. It started with the smallest habit that could hold, and let everything else follow from there.
We Started With the Check-In
The first step was simply children checking in on their emotions each morning. The school did not add the contextual questions behind the check-in, such as what might be affecting how a child felt, until well after the basic habit was in place.
No Mandate, Just an Invitation
Jodie Holt deliberately avoided requiring every classroom to check in daily from the outset. Staff were told to have a play, have a go and see what they could find, rather than being handed a compliance requirement.
Go With the Willing Staff First
Drawing on leadership advice she picked up early in her career, to leave the outliers and let them come in later, Jodie Holt applied the same approach here. She looked for staff who were genuinely interested, let them trial it and talk about it in staff meetings, and allowed the habit to spread through the staffroom rather than pushing it onto reluctant teachers first.
Add the Context Later
Around six to eight months into the rollout, the school introduced the deeper context questions that sit behind a child’s check-in. Staff response was immediate: they said it made the picture so much clearer. Introducing that layer earlier, before the basic habit had taken hold, may have been too much at once.
Protect the Consistency
It took around twelve months before Jodie Holt could confidently say every classroom was checking in every day.
Jodie HoltPrincipal“I would probably hand on my heart say it was twelve months before I could confidently say every classroom was checking in every day, because then, by that point, they wanted... the children wanted to check in. And the teachers wanted to see what that data said.”
Every Student Known: Two Years of Change
The shift at Stockton is best seen over time, from an untracked check-in habit before Life Skills GO, through the routine that has built consistency, to what staff can see and do two years on.
Before · 2024
- We had zones-of-regulation language in every classroom, but no way to track how a student was checking in over time.
- A teacher might notice a child had checked in as struggling on a given day, but nobody recorded it or followed it up systematically.
- We only formally logged the negative: major, minor and moderate behaviour incidents.
- We had no consistent, whole-school way to collect positive or wellbeing information.
- Quiet students and those who masked how they were feeling were easy to miss.
- Some classrooms relied on an anonymous question box, with no way of following up with whoever had written something concerning.
- When a parent told us their child did not want to come to school, we had little evidence to bring to that conversation.
- We could not easily tell whether a child’s low mood was connected to home or to school.
- New teachers had to build relationships with a class from scratch, with little structured information to help them get to know a child quickly.
- We had no shared, whole-school language for reporting a child’s wellbeing that leadership, teachers and learning support could all use the same way.
The Shift · Slowly, Slowly
- Life Skills GO check-ins were added to the same School Bytes routine already used to mark the roll each morning, so there was no extra administrative step.
- Executive staff set a minimum expectation of one check-in a day, and let teachers set their own pace beyond that.
- Leadership avoided a mandate in the first months, encouraging staff to have a play and have a go rather than requiring daily use from day one.
- Jodie Holt and the executive team worked through a two-year data champions project with Dr Selina Fisk to understand what a school is obliged to do with wellbeing data once it exists.
- Context questions were added to the check-in around six to eight months in, once the basic habit was already established.
- It took around twelve months before every classroom was checking in every day.
After · Two Years On
- Staff can see how a student is checking in, day by day, and follow up when something looks different from usual.
- Teachers can notice the one student who has always checked in as ready to learn suddenly checking in differently, and use that as a starting point for a conversation.
- Leadership and teachers can look at check-in trends for a cohort, such as Stage 3, and identify patterns, for example students checking in as tired because of gaming late into the night, rather than assuming disengagement with school.
- Staff can bring check-in evidence into conversations with families, giving them something concrete to discuss rather than relying on impressions alone.
- Teachers can help distinguish whether a student’s low mood is more connected to home or to school before deciding how to respond.
- Staff can find a quiet moment during learning, rather than at lunch or recess, to follow up with a student who has checked in as upset.
- New teachers can use a student’s check-in history to get to know a class more quickly, building a sense that “my teacher really knows me” sooner.
- Life Skills GO data now features in student-led conferences held twice a year, where children present their own wellbeing tracking to their parents.
- Teachers who are not yet checking in regularly can be identified and supported to build the habit, because a missing check-in is now visible.
- Leadership is beginning to explore bringing Life Skills GO data together with attendance and learning support information, described by Jodie Holt as the school’s next step rather than something fully in place yet.
- Staff describe the check-in as something that validates a child’s feelings and builds a sense of being known, valued and cared for, every day, without adding another task to the morning.
Jodie HoltPrincipal“They love it. They love the check-in, they love the ability to, you know, you walk into classrooms... it’s hearing the student voice, but I think, for them, it really is that the one child who perhaps has always checked in as ready to learn, and today isn’t, and it’s given him a real insight to what’s happening here.”
What They Can See Now That They Couldn’t Before
The shift shows up differently depending on where you sit in the school. Here is what changed for students, for teachers, for the learning and support team, and for leadership and parents.
- Check in each morning as part of the same routine used to mark the roll.
- Use familiar Zones of Regulation language to say how they are feeling.
- Can expect that checking in as not okay leads to someone following up.
- Present their own Life Skills GO tracking to parents at twice-yearly student-led conferences.
- See check-in information for their whole class each morning without building a new report.
- Notice a student who has always checked in as ready to learn checking in differently, and follow up.
- Use check-in trends to have informed conversations with families rather than relying on impressions.
- Onboard quickly into an established Life Skills GO routine when new to the school.
- Can look at check-in trends alongside attendance and behaviour information.
- Are beginning to explore triangulating this data across teams, a step leadership describes as still in progress.
- Can see whole-cohort patterns, such as a stage checking in as tired, that may point to reasons beyond the classroom.
- Benefit from a habit leadership expects to build further as reporting matures.
- Can bring check-in data into a conversation when a family raises a concern about a child not wanting to attend.
- Can help a family see whether a child’s low mood traces back to something at home rather than at school.
- Can present Life Skills GO tracking within twice-yearly student-led conferences.
- Can open a conversation with families using whole-of-cohort patterns, such as a group of students checking in as tired.
Giving Every Student a Voice
The check-in reaches every child, from four-year-olds in the school’s preschool through to Year 6, and Jodie Holt talks about it as something that has changed the texture of the school day for students who might otherwise go unnoticed.
Built Into a Routine Every Child Already Knows
Because the check-in sits inside the same School Bytes screen used to mark the roll, even the youngest children can press an icon to say how they feel, with no separate system to learn.
A Tuesday Pattern That Wasn’t About School
A family came to a teacher concerned that their child was not happy to come to school. Looking at the Life Skills GO data, staff and the family noticed that little boy had checked in as unhappy every Tuesday morning. His mum realised he went with her to touch football training on Monday nights and got home late, so he was tired the next day. The pattern was not about school at all.
Teachers Can Read the Hesitation
After two years, teachers have become attuned to children who check in a little differently, hesitating before choosing how they feel, rather than walking up and doing it automatically. Staff describe that hesitation as an insight in itself.
A Shared Language for Feelings
Zones of Regulation gives students and staff a common way to talk about emotions. Jodie Holt uses the same language to validate students directly, telling a child she can tell they were in red zone, and that she is sometimes in red zone too, just handling it differently.
Children Naming Their Own Feelings, Unprompted
Jodie Holt describes students learning to say things like “I’m not having a great time” or naming that they are tired because they stayed up late, without being asked, a skill she connects directly to the daily habit of checking in and being validated for it.
The Child Who Might Have Gone Unnoticed
Jodie Holt talks about the child who may be masking how they feel, or who believes no one will listen so simply gets on with their day. The check-in gives that child a small window and gives a teacher the ability to follow up, in a quiet moment rather than in front of the class.
“As though they belong more, because people are checking in on them, people are noticing them, people are validating their feelings, they’re validating their... they can say they’re having a hard time at home, and someone will follow up. It’s really powerful, in a very, very subtle, everyday, business-as-usual kind of way.”Jodie Holt, Principal, Stockton Public School
What We Learned: Key Takeaways
Asked what she would tell a school just starting out, Jodie Holt returned to the same themes she had described throughout: go slowly, be consistent, and be clear about why you are doing it.
Commit for Three Years
Jodie Holt sought a three-year commitment from the outset. Her advice is to hang your hat on it for that long, rather than abandoning the approach the first time it feels difficult.
Go With the Willing Staff First
Find the staff who are genuinely interested, let them trial it and talk about it, and allow the habit to spread rather than trying to convince every sceptic at once.
Give the Tool, Do Not Add the Task
Frame the check-in as part of an existing routine, such as roll marking, rather than as an extra job on top of an already full day.
Add the Why Gradually
Introduce context questions and deeper explanation after the basic check-in habit is established, not all at once from day one.
Know What You Will Do With the Data First
If a school is going to collect wellbeing information, it needs a plan for what happens next. Collecting data without a follow-up plan risks becoming data for data’s sake.
It Is Not Just a Data Tool
Jodie Holt describes the value as relationships and conversations, not the data itself: “it builds relationships, and it allows us to support our students in more ways than we ever could before.”
“I talk about it all the time, so I think it just works. It gives us that data place, but more importantly, it builds relationships and it allows us to support our students in more ways than we ever could before.”
Bring Student Voice, Wellbeing and School Data Together All in One Place
See how Life Skills GO could work inside your school’s existing routines, in a demo built around what matters to your context.
More about the demo, and reports
A demo typically covers how the daily check-in fits inside a system your staff already use, how role-relevant insights reach teachers, learning support staff and leadership without adding new reports to build, and how schools use the platform in conversations with families and in existing meetings.
You will also have the opportunity to ask questions and work through whether Life Skills GO is the right fit for your school’s context and stage of readiness.
Life Skills GO supports schools of every size, sector and context, including metropolitan, regional and remote schools, government, Catholic and independent schools, and Schools for Specific Purpose and support classes.
Put the Reports Into the Meetings You Already Hold
For Stockton, the value was never the check-in itself. It was what happened next: a teacher noticing a change, a conversation with a family, a pattern that leadership could ask a question about. The check-in only mattered because staff acted on it.
The information surfaces where staff already work. It sits inside School Bytes, next to the roll teachers mark every morning, and it appears in the twice-yearly student-led conferences where children present their own tracking to parents. Leadership has described bringing this data together with attendance and learning support information as a next step still to be built out, rather than something fully in place today.
Staff at Stockton do not build reports, analyse spreadsheets or learn a new reporting system to use this information. It comes through the same screen and the same daily habit they already use, so acting on it adds a conversation, not an administrative task.
Take These Ideas Further
If Stockton’s story raised questions for your own school, these resources go deeper into the themes Jodie Holt talked about: building buy-in slowly, using wellbeing data with a plan, and bringing families into the conversation.
Related Webinars
Jodie Holt joined Life Skills GO founder and CEO Nikki Bonus for a live webinar on Stockton Public School’s approach to wellbeing data and buy-in.
Webinar: Building the Habit of Wellbeing Data at Stockton Public School
FeaturingNikki Bonus (Life Skills GO) and Jodie Holt (Principal, Stockton Public School)
Watch the ReplayFree Guides & Expert Insights
Free downloads for educators, leaders and families, going deeper into the emotional and neuroscience foundations behind a daily check-in like the one Stockton has built into its morning routine.
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 and Resources
For more on early identification, whole-school improvement and building sustainable staff habits around student voice data, explore the wider Life Skills GO resource library.
Explore the Life Skills GO Resource Library
Guides and webinar replays on early identification, engagement, learning and school improvement.
Browse the Resource LibraryReady to see it inside your own school?
Book a short conversation with our education wellbeing specialist to talk through what a rollout could look like for your context.
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