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Consultation is open until the end of May 2010. There is an Online Survey, plus national and state forums, Join in if and where you can, and mention the need for wellbeing and SEL to be part of the Curriculum!

President Sarkozy of France is promising a 'revolution' in the way we measure social progress.  He says we need a change of emphasis from GDP to wellbeing and sustainability...in ways that don't damage the planet.  Read more about this here. 

Young children can be placed on a downward slippery slope by being categorised as 'naughty' in their early days at school.  Read the recent research by Maggie MacClure and Liz Jones here.

The Spring 2009 Wellbeing Australia newsletter includes an invitation to a breakfast in National Child Protection Week early September and encouragement to complete a survey linked to the prevention of child abuse. You will also find information on other organisations promoting wellbeing, upcoming conferences, cyber safety and a new circle time trainer program.  Feel free to distribute.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare have released a report entitled "Making progress: the health, development and wellbeing of Australia's children and young people" You can download specific sections from this website.

About the importance of friends, relationships with teachers and their participation in the learning environment? This recent (June 2009) report from the NSW Commission for Children and Young People shows how important schools are to children's wellbeing and ways in which they can either promote or undermine this. NSW children talk about school.pdf

According to a new UK Ofsted report, excluding young children just passes on the problem - children need connection, not exclusion. It's a challenging notion for many teachers but we need to think through how to intervene to promote positive cycles of resilience and pro-social behaviour, not reinforce negative behaviours.

The Director of Education at Ofsted, UK Miriam Rosen, was on BBC Radio talking about their report and said that Nurture Groups were an effective strategy to prevent exclusions and a positive way to work with children.  There are items on the Times and BBC online news sites.

The new Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians can be downloaded here (pdf). The supercedes the 1999 Adelaide Declaration and is an important document which emphasises both excellence and equity.

Downloadable pdf copies of past newsletters.