Recently in Materials Category

Bill Hansberry in Adelaide is distributing Moonjar moneyboxes - what do these have to do with Wellbeing? Well, they have three sections, meaning children are encouraged to think about whether to Spend their money, Save it, or Share it with others. Bill says: "Our kids all have moonjars and the conversations these things generate with kids about money, saving, donating and spending are incredible!" 

Download the flyer, and contact Bill if you're interested.

School suspensions - a resource for teachers and school administrators, by Sheryl Hemphill, has been published on the website of the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne. A quote from the first page: "... recourse to school suspensions or other exclusionary policies is rarely effective and often counter productive. The negative impact of school suspensions is more far-reaching than may be anticipated, for both individual students and the entire school community." 

New Australian research demonstrates that teachers who are able to teach their students attitudes and behaviours for learning improve the learning ability of their students - particularly where students are struggling. Former Dean of Education at the University of Melbourne, Professor Brian Caldwell, stated that the study has important implications for policy and practice: "No amount of testing and reporting of student achievement will improve levels of literacy in Australian schools unless students' attitudes and behaviours prepare them for learning. Professor Bernard's study shows how this can be achieved through an innovative program that has been tested and found to be successful under experimental conditions."
AB4L - media release (98KB pdf)
Summary And Overview (86KB pdf)
Full Final report (545KB pdf)

Now published and available here. Included in this issue: - MindMatters on YouTube; - MindMatters impact; - Self Injury Guide for Schools book; - Working with Indigenous youth (Feeling Deadly not Shame); - Student Empowerment - what's happening around Australia? - School Stories - how has MindMatters helped WA's Mt Barker College; - Latest News by state and territory

The Centre for Analysis of Educational Futures at Flinders University has published a large volume of materials on the evaluation of aspects of the KidsMatter programs. The papers are all available at the CAEF KidsMatter Evaluation website. Download the Evaluation Report Executive Summary here (1MB pdf): kidsmatter-exec-summary-report

Daniel Pink provides concrete examples of how intrinsic motivation functions both at home and in the workplace. Two videos: an animated, edited version from RSAnimate, and the video of the original lecture it's drawn from ...

The latest issue available here. Includes: excerpt from Louise Rowling's article MindMatters as an example of mental health reform; two new draft resource books; student empowerment events; stories from Northern Beaches State High School; and much more.

is evidence that our youth are well-adjusted, have a strong set of values and place enormous importance on family relationships. And apart from shouldering a range of serious concerns - both personal and for the nation - young Australians are overwhelmingly positive about the future.

At more than 50,000 participants, this is the biggest annual stocktake of young people in the country. The survey flies in the face of popular stereotypes of Generation Y as shallow and materialistic. But it's not all good news. This year's survey has also uncovered some serious issues we, as a community, need to address ... 

The survey results can be downloaded from http://www.missionaustralia.com.au/downloads/national-survey-of-young-australians/271-2010

You can read about it here! 
Opening and First day, Second day, Third day

Highlights of a major report from CASEL (July 2010) showing that students who are involved in SEL programs at school make improvements in diverse areas.  The quality of implementation is crucial.  You can download this here.http://www.casel.org/downloads/Meta-analysis_summary.pdf
You may also be interested in reading about the Academic, Social and Emotional Learning Act  http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-4223

A selection of useful programs, resources and materials for promoting wellbeing.

Response Ability has developed a wonderful resource entitled Children and Young People's Wellbeing: An Educators Guide. Click here, scroll down the page and you will see where you can download this excellent 6 page document. This organisation has been set up for tertiary educators and has many useful publications and resources to promote wellbeing.

The Gatehouse project has some excellent resources for both planning and implementing social and emotional learning in your school. Click on this link to download.

Click on the following link to find the resources provided for the UK SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) Primary Strategy.