Wellbeing Team – St Peter Apostle Primary, Hoppers Crossing

Emili Coppe – Wellbeing Leader – care@stpeterahc.catholic.edu.au

Emili has a passion for student and community wellbeing. Throughout her career in education, Emili has been and continues to be an advocate for student wellbeing and learning diversity. Emili has completed post-graduate studies in Positive Education through Melbourne University and has extensive knowledge of a range of wellbeing and support programs such as Restorative Practice. Her role is to support families, students and staff to thrive in the school’s teaching and learning environment. Emili works alongside teaching staff to implement effective Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) practices and she is a member of the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) Action Team.

Mrs Pattie McCusker – Senior School Learning Diversity Leader

Pattie has forty years of experience in the Learning Diversity and Student Wellbeing areas in education sectors including Playgroup, Kindergarten, Primary, Secondary and Special Schools. She is passionate about supporting students with disabilities and about forming relationships between the school, parents, external therapists and organisations so that children can reach their potential. She values communication and welcomes parent contact to discuss any concerns. Along with the Wellbeing team, Pattie also works with students on the development of social and emotional regulation, social skills, relationship difficulties and other areas of student wellbeing.

Teah Sullivan – Junior School (P-2) Learning Diversity

Teah is our junior school (P-2) Learning Diversity Leader. Her teaching career reflects a commitment to inclusive education as well as holistic approaches to teaching and learning. Teah’s greatest joy comes from the opportunities to develop positive relationships with students and their families. She is passionate about working alongside families and external agencies to ensure students with additional learning needs access the support needed to reach their potential.
Teah’s also works collaboratively with teachers and parents to develop personalised learning plans and behaviour support plans. As a member of the Wellbeing Team, her work extends to sharing her expertise in ensuring the students have a sense of voice and agency in all areas of their learning.

Kirsten Zivovic – Mental Health Wellbeing Leader (MHWL)

Kirsten has twenty years of teaching experience, seven of those years in Reading Recovery and has a passion for literacy, social emotional learning, neurodiversity and mental health. She advocates a holistic approach to wellbeing which includes physical, spiritual, social emotional and mental health. Kirsten has undertaken the mental health and wellbeing course through University of Melbourne. We are fortunate to have the Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) initiative which enables Kirsten to bring awareness of children’s mental health and provide resources and supports for the whole school community.

Lizzy Williams – Speech Pathologist

Lizzy is a Speech Pathologist from Speech Pathology for Schools who works at St Peter Apostle Primary School on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Lizzy has experience working with children of a range of ages to support them with their speech, language, literacy, and stuttering. Lizzy works alongside the leadership, teaching, and learning support staff at school to identify students who would benefit from additional support with their communication, conduct a range of assessments, and provide targeted intervention, either directly or indirectly, to help students meet their learning and communication potential. She believes all students have a right to effective communication and loves advocating for them in the school context. Lizzy meets with school staff regularly to equip them to support students in the classroom. She runs regular training to build the capacity of staff to confidently maximise students’ communication. Lizzy also works with families to offer education, recommendations and training to support their children’s communication in day to day life. She is passionate about using evidence-based approaches, connecting with students to make sessions engaging and functional, and prioritising generalisation of student’s gains to their everyday learning and home environments.

Rosa Medina Barron

Psychologist

Parent Consent Form

When support is required outside of school hours (e.g., on the weekend or school holidays), the following professional services are available:

Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 (www.kidshelp.com.au)

Lifeline: 13 11 14

beyondblue: 1300 22 4636 (www.beyondblue.org.au/getsupport)

Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

Local GP service

Emergency services: 000