I am because we areÂ
Ubuntu is translated into English as: 'I am because we are'. It is a word that originated in Africa as a means of capturing the fundamentally social nature of people, created from and contributing to their communities. Â
In schools, the meaning of Ubuntu helps us to realise that
wellbeing is not purely an individual pursuit. Rather, every member of the school community is influenced and shaped through the quality of the relationships they develop with others, and with the broader context of school life.
When staff and student relationships within the school community are safe, inclusive and supportive; staff and students will feel well, act well, and contribute well to their school community values and vision.
Ubuntu is run by internationally acclaimed educator and author - Positive Schools founder - Dr Helen Street.
Find out more about Helen hereDr Helen Street is an internationally acclaimed educational consultant with an extensive background in applied social psychology and mental health. Â
Helen is the founder of Positive Schools and Contextual Wellbeing, a consultant to schools worldwide, a successful author and a long standing honorary fellow in the Graduate School of Education at
The University of Western Australia.
Over the past 25 years Helen has worked to support school wellbeing and learning engagement with a focus on equitable whole-school development. She also worked for over fifteen years as a registered psychologist and for over 25 years as a researcher and academic.
Helen has delivered professional learning to more than 100,000 educators from more than 6000 public and private schools across Australia, the UK, Europe, SE Asia and Canada. She has also worked with a variety of educational bodies and school networks including The WA Department of Education, Catholic Schools NSW, Catholic Schools WA, The International Baccalaureate Global Foundation, Dulwich International, The English Schools Foundation, The Victorian Academy of Leadership, Montessori Schools & Centres Australia (MSCA), The Australian Primary Principals Association and
The Australian Psychological Society, plus many more.
Helen is known as a pioneer in the development and support of long-term learning engagement and wellbeing through the development of whole school systemic change and development. Her first book 'Standing Without Shoes' includes a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Her fourth book, âContextual Wellbeingâ has become an international best-seller in education and has formed the basis of the UBUNTU program. Â
Helenâs fifth book âThe Impossible Question of Living Wellâ was launched in May 2024. In this inspiring and innovative work, Helen explores the concept of resilience as our ability to change.
Helenâs sixth book was also out in 2024. As the definitive guide to building contextual wellbeing, The Positive Schools Big Wellbeing Handbook provides a meaningful resource for schools working with Helen to implement the Positive Schools UBUNTU program.
Helen co-founded Positive Schools with Neil Porter in 2007, including the highly respected Positive Schools conference series from 2009 and Positive Schools Online in 2020.
For more information about Helen, and to access resources and complementary articles, visit www.HelenStreet.com
"The Positive Schools UBUNTU School Improvement Program recognises context and
contextual wellbeing in the consideration of school-based improvement at every level.
In this, the UBUNTU program embraces the social nature of our
ongoing growth and development.
It is a program that believes staff and student wellbeing, and capacity for resilience, need to be built in the spaces between everyone in the school community, within the contexts of school life."
Dr Helen Street, 2025
The Positive Schools UBUNTU program offers a clear and grounded approach to building and guiding YOUR STUDENTS and STAFF, IN YOUR UNIQUE SCHOOL COMMUNITY to improved and enhanced:
   MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING
   PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
   BELONGING, COHESION AND INCLUSION
   AUTONOMOUS MOTIVATION
   ENGAGEMENT in LEARNING & WORK
The program can support your whole-school improvement or a sub-group of students (e.g. a year group, a neurodivergent group, or cultural group) or staff (e.g. leadership, allied professionals or a specific department)
Â
Â
Â
1. UBUNTU- PLAN (developing your tailored wellbeing review with shared understanding and vision)
2. UBUNTU-PRACTICE (supporting the implementation of your plan with real-world systemic growth).
Each step is grounded in the philosophy and framework of CONTEXTUAL WELLBEING, supporting a real-world systemic approach to belonging, motivation and engagement within your school community.
âCONTEXTUAL WELLBEING is defined as a state of health, happiness and
positive engagement (in learning) that arises from membership of an equitable, inclusive and cohesive (school) environmentâ
SAMPLE TESTIMONIALS
âHelen designed and developed a methodology which allowed members of our
community to feel safe and heardâŚThe time, energy, expertise and passion Helen
demonstrated throughout the process allowed her to provide us with a detailed summary and recommendations to ensure that moving forward we were able to meet the needs of our community. Helenâs report has allowed us to move into a design phase where we are now able to create a bespoke wellbeing program that enhances our approach to holistic education and ensures a critically high standard of wellbeing and mental health. â
 Methodist Ladies College (MLC) Perth,WA
Katy Moore, Head of Senior School
Craig Davis Director of Education
Dulwich College International
"Over the years working alongside Dr Helen Street, I have come to regard her as a vanguard of students wellbeing.
Helen has used the collective respect from teachers and administrators alike to win widespread support for our students. Helen's abilities to bring colleagues together through her commitment to students' wellbeing and active encouragement and support of teachers' professional development are much admired across our organisation."
Jacques-Olivier Perche
Head of Professional Learning
English Schools Foundation
"We were fortunate to engage with Helen over three years to develop a context of wellbeing that empowered staff, students and the community to engage in policy, procedures and practices that literally changed the culture of the school. Many schools and learning organizations buy into programs to enhance wellbeing. My experience as an international school leader working with Helen Street affirmed that there is so much more to creating positive, meaningful and long-term change to support student and staff wellbeing. Helen connected with staff and parents on a personally and professional level enabling them to re-conceptualize theories of wellbeing and the necessary steps to take to support resilience, quality learning and a positive school culture. The professional learning for staff was inspiring, the workshops for parents engaging and the mentoring for leaders empowering as we bought about sustainable change for our learning community."
Neill O'Reilly, Principal, Kowloon Junior School, Hong Kong
âDr Helen Street supported us significantly in our goal of investigating and developing wellbeing and she created a custom-made school reform plan based on her specific findings from our community. Helen is an engaging speaker about well-being in schools who is challenging, entertaining and thought provoking. She discusses research findings with authority and passion, and stresses the importance of context to well-being in a learning community.â
Colin Campbell, Senior School Deputy Principal, International School of DĂźsseldorf, Germany
âWith an understanding that wellbeing wasn't something that needs to be done to 'us', nor is it a program that will 'fix us', we embarked on a systemic change process facilitated by Dr Helen Street...
This provided us with both short and long-term recommendations and
consolidated our school values and proved to be a valuable process. It captured the voice of all stakeholders, affirming what was working well and what needed improvement within day-to-day life at the school. This review was the beginning of our ongoing journey to build
contextual wellbeing in the school community.â
St Brendanâs Primary School, Bankstown, NSW
Michelle Coupland, Diverse Learning Coordinator & Patricia Laidler, Principal
Reflections on our whole school Wellbeing Review
In Term 3 of 2023, Saltwater College had the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Helen Street. Over her three-day visit, Dr. Street engaged deeply with staff, students, and parents, bringing her expertise on student mental health and engagement, and the importance of creating contextual wellbeing within the school environment. Her approach, which focuses on shaping a school culture where students naturally thrive, resonated strongly with the school community.
Dr. Street conducted a comprehensive review, gathering insights from various stakeholders to evaluate the school's current practices. Her findings led to several actionable recommendations, many of which have already been successfully implemented. These changes include the removal of merit-based awards, the enhancement of play spaces with natural and creative elements, the transformation of the Wellbeing Hub into a tranquil space for students, and the revision of the Behaviour Management policy to prioritize relational and supportive approaches.
The impact of Dr. Street's work at Saltwater College has been significant. The school has embraced her recommendations, fostering a more inclusive, supportive, and engaging environment for students and staff alike. As the school continues to build on these changes, the emphasis on contextual wellbeing promises to make a lasting, positive difference in the overall school culture.
Jackie Daniali, Principal, Saltwater P-9 College, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
From Two Worlds into One
I have had the privilege of working closely with Helen for six years, both in my previous school and in my current role as Assistant Principal at the ISF Academy Primary in Hong Kong. During my time at my former school, collaborating with Helen allowed us to develop a personalised approach to wellbeing. Together, we empowered our staff, students and the wider community to reevaluate our wellbeing policies and practices.
At the ISF Academy, we have continued this partnership with Helen and delved deep into the concept of contextual wellbeing. We have explored how to cultivate it within our unique, bicultural and bilingual school environment, which is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. As a community, we constantly reassess and reflect on our wellbeing practices as we grow in our understanding of our needs and identity through this work. Helen's expertise and guidance have been invaluable in helping us transform to a more intentional, practice-focused approach tailored specifically for our school.
Scott Panico, Assistant Principal, Primary, The Independent Schools Foundation (ISF) Academy
 Are you open to examining the established practices in your school in order to foster wellbeing, not as an âadd onâ, but as the very core of everything you believe and do? When we first discovered âContextual Wellbeingâ by Helen Street, we recognised the work required to build a cohesive culture in which students and teachers could flourish.
Working with Helen supported us to see the importance of an appreciative inquiry as the starting point from which to build on our strengths as a community. Engaging with Helen set us on the journey of defining our values, thus enabling us to focus on ensuring that our policies and practices align with our core beliefs.
Mount Scopus Memorial College, Melbourne
Edna Sackson, Teaching and Learning Leader PYP
UBUNTU - I am because we are
Â
