Health & Wellbeing

The school has developed an extensive Health and Family Support Division operating a health and wellbeing program which is coordinated by the Deputy Principal.  This programme provides a range of health services throughout the year including general health issues of students, ear health, optometrist and dental services and complex paediatric issues.

EKPS adopts a holistic approach to addressing the challenges which impede our students’ academic progress. This involves looking past the individual child to their family and other environmental factors and working to overcome challenges for the whole family. This is achieved by working in partnership with a number of health and support agencies throughout the community and managed through the school. The school has a dedicated health and wellbeing department staffed with a Deputy Principal, Family Support Coordinator, an Education Assistant dedicated to ear health and an Education Assistant to support Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy programs.   We have a demountable building with a kitchen, nurse’s station and bathroom from which our support programs are run.

The school has established a comprehensive support system with the following elements:

• Health
• Family Support
• Early childhood intervention
• Community sport engagement

Features of the program include:

• Speech and occupational therapy
• Health management and treatment facilitation
• Nutrition program.
• Support of families with housing, medical, employment etc.
• Comprehensive whole school ear-health program
• Daily case management
• KindiLink Program

Our health programme services every child at East Kalgoorlie Primary School, according to need. 

After assessment and screening, children are placed on relevant programmes or treatment pathways.  At present the school is servicing the following:

• Individual speech programmes
• Occupational therapy programmes
• Complex health issues
• Ear health issues: Earbus program
• Other health issues such as rheumatic fever and pre-diabetes
• General health and screening programmes.

The school works with various agencies including the Child Development Centre, Full Circle OT, The Earbus Foundation and Bega Garnbirringu Health Service.  Students are referred to Specialists and Paediatricians as needed. 

The Department of Education also provides a School Psychology service.  School psychologists help schools meet the social, emotional, learning and behaviour needs of students. Working closely with the school administration, teachers, students and parents, school psychologists help schools make improvements that are good for all students, particular groups of students or individual students

The Schools of Special Educational Needs provide support for students with disabilities and diverse learning needs through teams of teachers working from the School of Special Educational Needs: Disability, School of Special Educational Needs: Sensory (Vision Education Service and the Western Australian Institute for Deaf Education) and the School of Medical and Mental Health. These services collaborate to provide effective service provision to school communities.

Our challenge going forward is to fund our Health and Family Support Programme in a sustainable fashion. This will allow us to achieve not only our short-term goals to address immediate health and wellbeing issues for our students but also our long term aim to change the trajectory of the lives of our entire community.