Social and Emotional Development and Well-Being
The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration demonstrates a commitment to supporting all students to become confident and creative individuals who are resilient and able to manage their own well-being. At Peace we focus on developing the whole child – mind, body and soul and value each student as an individual.
The Australian Curriculum, specifically the Personal and Social Capability, also addresses the need for schools to provide opportunities for students to develop in this area as they learn to understand themselves and others, and manage their relationships, lives, work and learning more effectively. The Personal and Social Capability involves students practicing a range of skills including recognising and regulating emotions, developing empathy for others and understanding relationships, establishing and building positive relationships, making responsible decisions, working effectively in teams, handling challenging situations constructively and developing leadership skills.
Therefore, as part of our curriculum we maintain a focus on the social and emotional development and well-being of our students using the following social/emotional programs:
Play is the Way
Play is the Way (PITW) is a whole school behaviour education program that is implemented across all year levels at Peace Lutheran Primary School. This program incorporates social and emotional learning, which is an extremely important skill set that children require to develop skills such as resilience, perseverance, self-control, empathy and collaboration.
Play is the Way provides students with the opportunity to learn skills to manage themselves, relate to others, develop resilience and a sense of self-worth, resolve conflict, engage in teamwork, and feel positive about themselves and the world around them, through playing purposefully created games. Discussions and reflections form a significant part of the Play is the Way process, allowing students to face difficulty, problem-solve and even fail, and learn the skills to cope with these feelings and how to grow from these experiences.
The five Play is the Way ‘life rafts’ that we teach students at Peace are:
- Treat others as you would like them to treat you (If someone is unlike you, seek to understand them).
- Have reasons for the things you say and do (If you don’t know why you’re doing something then don’t do it because it’s most likely wrong).
- Be brave – Participate to progress (School is about stepping bravely into the unknown. The unknown is often uncomfortable. The braver you are, the more you learn).
- It takes great strength to be sensible (We do the right thing because it’s the best thing to do).
- Pursue your personal best no matter who you work with (We don’t come to school to be better than others. We come to school to better ourselves by being able to work with others).
Teachers use the language from these five life rafts with all students throughout the day, and this language is also used when working restoratively with students to restore relationships. The aim of this program is to educate students to become independent, self-managing, self-motivated, empathetic, life-long learners.
Growth Mindset Lessons
Students will participate in lessons across the year focusing on developing a growth mindset and building a culture of growth mindset within the classroom. Students with a growth mindset are more resilient towards challenges in their learning and are more likely to develop strong work habits and experiences success.
Zones of Regulation
The Zones of Regulation framework assists students with emotional and sensory self-management by teaching students to recognise their emotional “zone” as well as strategies to support their own emotional regulation. At Peace, teachers may use the Zones of Regulation with students.