Student Wellbeing Hub

Client: Student Wellbeing Hub

Results:

Published & shared with educators, parents and students

Featured as a resource across various platforms & channels

Prompted more content ideas & recommissioning by client

Scope of work:

Research / interviewing / recording / presenting / hosting /copywriting / scripting/ editing / audio editing / audio engineering / production / strategic advice / writing feature article / stakeholder management / project management

Format: Interview-style podcast & feature article

Publication: Part of the ongoing Student Wellbeing Hub podcast series

Industry: Education, professional learning, school wellbeing, health research, adolescence research, teachers, parents, students, psychology, schools

A world-first study shows how transitioning from primary school to secondary school can have lifelong implications for student success. We created explainer resources on the Student Wellbeing Hub for educators on why schools need to focus on the middle years. This included a podcast and feature article showcasing adolescent health researcher and study lead George Patton from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

When young people change over from the familiarity of their primary school to the unknown domain of high school, it can be a challenging time. This switch usually happens at around 12 years of age, and it can have a profound impact on student health, emotional development, relationships and academic performance.

This period in student life is commonly referred to as the middle years. It was once considered a latent period. So, typically, there hasn’t been a focus within education to prepare students for this important transition. Now though, it’s thought to be critical to student development and the long-term outcomes for individuals in later life.

The Student Wellbeing Hub set out to highlight the findings of a world-first longitudinal study which captured the experiences of students. They wanted to spur educators to take necessary steps to give students a healthy start to adolescence and build resilience.

To capture the attention of time-poor teachers and additional school-based educators, Written & Recorded created short explainers that got to the heart of why school policies, procedures and practices need to consider the child to adolescent stages of development.

Working closely with an education expert, we started off with research. Then we followed this up with an interview with George Patton, Professorial Fellow in Adolescent Health Research from the University of Melbourne and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

The interview teased out findings from the Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study (CATS), such as what’s worrying students and the emotional pitfalls. By bringing to life the real risks facing students through our storytelling process, we delivered the key message – the need for evidence-based strategies and a systemic approach in schools. The interview was recorded face-to-face using broadcast quality technology.

After recording we created a narrative arc that captured the colourful personality of Professor Patton and his passion for the subject matter. We were able to do this while at the same time delivering the crucial points which we wanted teachers to take away. This was achieved through careful story crafting and editing.

Our solution was to deliver this information as part of the ongoing Student Wellbeing Hub podcast series, along with an accompanying feature article. We deliberately chose to repurpose the interview content to reinforce the message. In addition, we were mindful of the different preferences for content consumption. We knew podcasting in particular would lend itself to teachers under time pressures, offering the ability to multitask better than any other media.

The Student Wellbeing Hub is home to resources to build safe, inclusive and connected school communities. Written & Recorded added to this suite of professional learning assets.

The podcast and feature article were shared across various platforms including:

• the Student Wellbeing Hub email newsletter (EDM)
• the Teachers Registration Board of South Australia Facebook page
• the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute resources page
• the CATS research update Newsletter 2020

Off the back of this project, we were invited to record soundbites on respectful relationships education looking at managing student reactions and managing staff reactions.