Can you recall a time when a reassuring pat on the shoulder or a few encouraging words from a teacher lifted your spirits? In school, besides close friends, teachers are often the first to notice when something’s not quite right.
Mr Rajiv Jude Illesinghe, Subject Head of Student Well-being at Northland Primary School, believes that educators play a crucial role in supporting student well-being. “Times have changed, and with everything being online, the adversaries students now face are not as visible. That’s why it’s so important for students to see teachers as people who care about them, who want to hear their voices and say, ‘I’m here for you’,” he says.
From casual chats to insights drawn from tools such as check-in surveys, teachers from three schools share the ways in which they connect with and reach out to their students.
Northland Primary School
When one of his students began acting out in class, Mr Jude sensed that something was wrong. But the student clammed up and insisted that everything was fine when the concerned teacher checked in with him. Undeterred, Mr Jude turned to the Termly Check-in survey data that the student had completed earlier. Combing through the responses, his worry deepened.
“For questions such as ‘Are you excited about school holidays?’ and ‘Do you have friends in class?’, my student answered ‘No’. The responses unravelled a bigger picture of what the student was going through,” Mr Jude shares.
Mr Jude then reached out to the student’s parents, who were unaware of the impact certain changes in the family were having on their child. “The child’s father was moving overseas, but the parents did not realise that it was affecting their child. I advised the parents to have an open conversation with their child.”
Mr Jude shares that the student has since returned to his cheerful self. “He has moved on to secondary school but came to visit me on Teacher’s Day. He looks really joyful again,” says Mr Jude.
Tools to support tough conversations
Termly Check-in surveys are just one of the tools Form Teachers (FT) use to monitor and support students’ emotional and social well-being. Typically done at the start of each school term, these surveys contain questions designed to provide a holistic understanding of the students’ emotional, mental and social states.
When concerning responses are flagged, teachers reach out to offer more personalised support. At Northland Primary School for instance, U&Me sessions introduced in 2010 offer students a safe space to share their thoughts and emotions.
Mdm Menhanah Masudi, Head of Department of Character and Citizenship Education (CCE), explains that the aim is to provide a dedicated time for teachers to connect with students on a one-on-one basis. Each session lasts around 10 to 15 minutes and takes place during Form Teacher Guidance Period (FTGP) while the rest of the class continues with their FTGP lesson.
However, creating an environment where students feel comfortable enough to open up can be challenging. To support teachers in having more meaningful conversations, the school’s CCE team introduced tools such as the Blob Tree Diagram and Satir Iceberg Model, which use visual prompts and emotions to trigger deeper conversations.
“These tools are extremely useful for younger or more reserved students, as they can choose elements or characters that resonate with them,” Mdm Menhanah explains.
Reassuring students through connection
The impact of this personalised approach has been significant for many students. Ashlyn Koh, a Primary 6 student, says that it is reassuring to know that she can approach her teachers for help.
Another Primary 6 student Jovan Henry shares how a U&Me session with Mr Jude helped him manage his anxiety over the PSLE and his demanding after-school schedule of extra lessons, enrichment classes and co-curricular activities.
“My teacher showed me a video of a rocket launch and explained how a rocket uses all of its power at the start, but begins to float once it reaches a certain point,” Jovan recalls. “Understanding this helped calm me down. Although I’m juggling many things now, I will be able to be free to do what I want after the initial hard work put in.”’
Yuan Ching Secondary School
When Secondary 3 student Nur Aleesha returned to school after a long medical absence, she faced unexpected social challenges and often felt left out in group settings. “I had friends, but it felt like I wasn’t accepted in my group. I couldn’t really voice out my opinions,” she shares.
Aleesha’s struggles might have slipped under the radar if not for her form teachers at Yuan Ching Secondary, who noticed her concerns in a Termly Check-in survey. Along with insights from her school’s use of Connecto-gram, a tool mapping students’ peer support networks, her teachers reached out to offer a listening ear and guidance.
One piece of advice from her teachers stuck with Aleesha. “I learnt to not wait for people to come to me; instead, I can go to them and tell them how I feel,” she says.
Connecting the dots
Secondary 3 student Dylan Chia found the Termly Check-in surveys and Connecto-gram invaluable avenues for expressing his concerns with his teachers. “Besides sharing how I feel, I can also mention friends I’m worried about and why,” he says.
For Ms Jean Leong, who is a new form teacher to Aleesha and Dylan, the surveys are helpful in providing her with a broad overview of the class dynamics. Together with her observations and regular one-to-one conversations with students, Ms Leong is able to understand each student’s unique challenges and strengths, and thus plan ways to build a caring and supportive class community.
“The more open-ended questions, such as ‘What are some things you look forward to?’ help me understand individual students, their personal struggles and even their aspirations,” Ms Leong shares. “From there, I can start off my conversations with them on issues that may not surface in our normal day-to-day interaction. It allows us to intervene early if we spot an area of concern and ensure that no student is overlooked.”
Mapping social networks to support well-being
The data from Connecto-gram, which asks students to identify three friends they are close to, also helps teachers observe social dynamics within a class. “It’s a good gauge of class dynamics,” Ms Leong explains. “From the graph, you can see whether the student is more well-connected or if they are a bit more isolated.”
Data is regularly updated to monitor shifts in the students’ social circle, allowing teachers to identify those at risk of social struggles and provide targeted support, such as by pairing an isolated student with a supportive peer.
Aleesha found that kind of support in another classmate who was also facing similar social struggles. “They found solace in each other and are now good friends,” Ms Leong says.
Having someone to turn to can make all the difference when navigating challenges. “One of the fulfilling parts of being a teacher is seeing your students open up to you. But even if a student doesn’t directly approach us for help, the rapport we’ve built with the class means their friends often step up to let us know if something’s wrong,” Ms Leong says.
Cedar Girls’ Secondary School
It is not unusual to see students and teachers sitting on the benches, swings or in other cosy corners of Cedar Girls’ Secondary School, deep in conversation. Thrice a week – on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays – teachers make it a point to connect with their students during what’s called the Form Teacher-Student Dialogue.
“These one-on-one chats are very casual, and we just want to hear a little bit more about the students’ personal life and experiences, likes and dislikes,” says Ms Marianne Elizabeth John, an English Language teacher at Cedar Girls.
These informal conversations often flow naturally, and as trust builds, students sometimes reveal more serious concerns that they are facing. Teachers also leverage multiple touchpoints, from CCA activities to recess time, to check in on the students’ well-being.
Ms John finds that many of her students grapple with high self-expectations and a pressure to excel in all areas, leading to stress and anxiety. Students often compare themselves to their highly motivated peers, feeling inadequate when they don’t measure up to the perceived success of others, she says.
Making conversations relatable
When connecting with students, Ms John has a few key strategies. She finds comics and visual aids online to convey messages about resilience and growth mindset in a way that resonates with her Gen Z students.
“The girls find the comics cute. And it helps me convey what I want to say, because I don’t want to come across as if I were nagging or talking about some abstract idea that isn’t relatable to them,” she says.
Having once faced similar pressures to excel in her studies and CCA in Track and Field, Ms John draws on her own experiences to support her students.
“I had a CCA coach and teachers who were very intentional in helping me recognise my strengths and affirm me, even when I didn’t feel like the best member of the team or the one who contributed the most,” she says. “Their presence and the fact that they still checked in on me helped me recognise my areas for improvement. Just knowing that someone is there to support you helps a lot.”
For Lee Xin Jie, who graduated from the school in 2024, the one-on-one chats with her teacher have been invaluable in building her self-confidence. Xin Jie, who had been feeling overwhelmed and had trouble juggling her academics and CCA leadership responsibilities, says, “I was quite stressed about handling so many things, but my teacher told me to take a step back and see how far I’ve come and that she was proud of me. That was really reassuring to me.”
Photos courtesy of: Northland Primary School, Yuan Ching Secondary School, Cedar Girls’ Secondary School
.jpg)