June eNews
Issue 12: KidsMatter Primary eNewsletter June 2009
Editorial
Evaluation update
KidsMatter news
Feature: KidsMatter – ‘a vehicle for school reform’
Mental health in pre-service teacher training – Response Ability
| Editorial |
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Welcome to 2009′s second eNewsletter for KidsMatter!
Since our last newsletter several significant changes have taken place.
You will notice that this edition is now known as KidsMatter Primary. This is because a mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention initiative for children from birth to five is being developed and will be trialled across Australia (see later in this edition for more details.) To differentiate between these two frameworks, they will now be known as KidsMatter Primary and KidsMatter Early Childhood.
In 2009, school communities have remained committed to promoting children’s well-being and mental health and have sought to connect this with the national agenda, to state policies and to local priorities. This edition provides an example of these connections in the story of school reform from Upper Mount Gravatt.
During the past months, schools across Australia have assisted primary school children to manage loss, change and uncertainty. The year began with the trauma caused by fires in Victoria and floods in Queensland. Recently, a number of schools and classes in many states have been closed while children are kept in quarantine during the outbreak of swine flu. Within these difficult circumstances, schools have worked hard to create positive environments in which children can feel safe and maintain a sense of belonging. The work of schools in establishing positive communities and in the explicit teaching of social and emotional competencies is vital, especially in these challenging contexts.
The KidsMatter partners, the State and Territory Project Officers and pilot schools look forward to working with all states and territories in enabling more schools to implement the KidsMatter framework.
Kaye Johnson
National KidsMatter Primary Coordinator, Principals Australia
Evaluation Update
The KidsMatter Primary evaluation team from Flinders University has made good progress on analyzing the large amount of data collected over the KidsMatter Pilot. They are on track to complete their Evaluation Report by late July, which should see the report released sometime during the second half of 2009. Schools that participated in the KidsMatter Pilot will automatically receive a report.
For those wishing to know more about the KidsMatter evaluation please visit the KidsMatter Primary evaluation website established by Flinders University (http://caef.flinders.edu.au/kidsmatter/). In the interim, it is possible to read the Progress Reports submitted by Flinders University regarding the KidsMatter Evaluation. Click here to read the progress reports.
Go to: test.revium.com.au/km-primary/publications to download copies of the peer-viewed journal articles that KidsMatter has published in the International Journal of Mental Health Promotion.
| KidsMatter News |
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Supporting your child’s concerns about swine flu
Many children are aware of the threat of the swine flu outbreak through overhearing discussions between parents or carers, media updates, or through conversations with peers in the school ground. Some children may even be facing school closure. It is common for children to develop fears or worries about threats such as swine flu and these can become difficult for children of all ages to deal with. To find out how to support your child in managing his or her worries about the recent outbreak of swine flu, read the article by Professor Bob Montgomery, available at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/152989.php. Visit your state or territory’s Department of Education website to find out how an outbreak will be managed in your child’s school.
KidsMatter Primary progress in 2009
Since the national KidsMatter briefing in February, follow-up meetings have been held with key education and health representatives in each state and territory to guide the formal engagement of schools with KidsMatter during 2009. Local contexts will influence how the process of engagement is managed in each state and territory. The KidsMatter framework and implementation process that schools use to implement the initiative remain the same as in the pilot. In some states and territories, new schools will begin implementing the KidsMatter in the second half of the year, with schools in Tasmania most likely to be first on board in 2009. Schools who are not formally engaged in implementing KidsMatter are still able to access a range of comprehensive KidsMatter resources from the KidsMatter website.
New KidsMatter Resources
Keep track of KidsMatter Primary conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications and pilot evaluation progress reports on the new Publications webpage on the KidsMatter website. Available at: test.revium.com.au/km-primary/publications. Look out for further changes to the KidsMatter website in the coming months!
KidsMatter would also like to announce two new Information resource packs – Children with additional needs and mental health and Cultural diversity and children’s wellbeing. These will be available to download (PDF format) from the Information resources section of the KidsMatter website soon. Watch this space: test.revium.com.au/km-primary/resources/information-resources
Coming Soon: KidsMatter Early Childhood!
KidsMatter Early Childhood is the new mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention initiative for children from birth to five years of age. The KidsMatter Early Childhood initiative aims to:
- enable preschool and long day care services to implement evidence based mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention strategies,
- improve the social and emotional health and wellbeing of children from birth to school age, and
- achieve greater support for children experiencing mental health difficulties and their families.
KidsMatter Early Childhood has four key components that have been adapted from the KidsMatter Primary Schools initiative. They are:
- Creating a sense of community
- Developing children’s social and emotional skills
- Working with parents
- Helping children who are experiencing mental health difficulties
KidsMatter Early Childhood will be piloted in over 100 preschools and long day care centres across Australia in 2010 and 2011. Services will be asked to submit an expression of interest to participate in the pilot in September 2009. Information on how to do this will be available at test.revium.com.au/km-primary in August, 2009.
KidsMatter Early Childhood is being developed in collaboration with the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, beyondblue: the national depression initiative, Early Childhood Australia, and the Australian Psychological Society.
For further information about this initiative please contact enquiries@kidsmatterprimary.edu.au
| Feature: KidsMatter – ‘a vehicle for school reform’ |
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Through implementing the KidsMatter framework, schools can simultaneously meet national or state and territory-based education policies and priorities. The underlying principles of the KidsMatter initiative are highly aligned with national education policies such as The Melbourne Declaration on Education Goals for Young Australians, the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools, and the National Safe Schools Framework. By being aware of these links, schools are better able to manage their priorities and what they need to do to meet them. Read the school story from Upper Mount Gravatt State School to see just how the KidsMatter framework can be used to meet and exceed the expectations of education policies, while also creating a positive and welcoming school community and supporting child mental health and wellbeing.
A KidsMatter school story from Upper Mount Gravatt State School, QLD
Reflecting back to 2006, current Principal Derek Brady described Upper Mt. Gravatt as ‘a school without an identity or soul’. The school had a large number of students with significant learning, social, emotional and behavioural issues, below average academic achievement particularly in the later years, and poor staff morale contributed to by a school fire and leadership instability.
When given the chance to participate in the KidsMatter Primary pilot in 2007, the school leadership team quickly recognised that KidsMatter provided a structured process to analyse and address school issues, and a framework to strategically align school and community initiatives. In aligning all school community practices to the new school vision, “we were able to unclutter our curriculum, enabling us to do more things more efficiently with better quality outcomes,” says Derek Brady. A key part of this process was the school’s focus on social and emotional learning (SEL), KidsMatter Component 2 and also a key element in the Essential Learnings and Standards of the Queensland Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting (QCAR) Framework and the Act Smart-Be Safe framework both initiated by the Queensland Department of Education and Training. Focusing on SEL has fostered a new pride in the school’s identity, and has generated clarity around the school’s core business of improving learning outcomes for students. Upper Mt. Gravatt has also seen improvements in student behaviour and wellbeing – the school has since turned the detention room into a community room and has recorded nil suspensions in two years.
Today, Irene Thompson, President of the Upper Mt. Gravatt Parents and Citizens Association (P & C), describes the school as “the hub of the whole community“. While they previously concentrated on fundraising for the school, the P & C now focus on providing parenting support and education and providing opportunities for families and the wider community to connect with the school. In addition to achieving a welcoming and positive school community, Upper Mt. Gravatt State School has seen a number of other positive outcomes for students and staff, including increased academic achievement in all areas, a 30% increase in staff morale, high parent and student general satisfaction and an emphasis on working together rather than along side each other in their school community. Says Derek Brady, “The KidsMatter framework gave us a lens to investigate whole school reform with the current vision of: Healthy minds, healthy bodies and healthy spirits“.
| Mental health in pre-service teacher training: Response Ability |
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The Response Ability program is an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and is implemented by the Hunter Institute of Mental Health in partnership with teacher educators throughout Australia.
The Response Ability program targets trainee teachers and aims to raise their awareness of mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention in schools. Initially designed for trainee secondary teachers, the program has in recent years expanded to include those students training to work as early childhood and primary teachers.
Response Ability offers a range of resources including multimedia educational packages, fact sheets, and downloadable information on their website: www.responseability.org. These are provided to universities for use in their lectures and tutorials. Project staff can also assist teacher educators in integrating the material into their programs.
When student teachers or early career teachers come to your school, consider talking with them about what they have learned at university about children’s mental health and wellbeing. Response Ability promotes a whole-school approach to mental health and encourages early career teachers to get involved in the broader life and wellbeing of the school community.
