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Our school focuses on 

Choice Theory 


Choice Theory (developed by William Glasser) is highly regarded at our school.


Some of the ideas I find useful are:
  • We can't control others - Only ourselves!

  • We are responsible for our own happiness - No-one else can MAKE us feel a certain way- We choose to feel a certain way because of our thinking or actions. 
  • People behave in certain ways because one of their 5 basic needs are not being satisfied.
  • If you are not happy, change what you DO and THINK. (This in turn influences our feelings and physiology.) 
  • We can choose to change what we want in order to be happy. (Glasser refers to what we 'want' as our "Quality World" pictures)
  • Always Ask- "Is my behaviour bringing me closer or further away from the people that are important to me?
  • There is no use focusing on the past and making excuses for your behaviour in the present. The past is gone!
  • How long are you going to go on choosing to feel this way? Is it helping or hurting you?
OUR BASIC NEEDS.

We ALL behave in various ways to try and meet them! We are responsible for our behaviour and we all make CHOICES every day about the best way we can meet our needs. These needs are:
  • Fun
  • Freedom
  • Love and Belonging
  • Power (feeling proud of what you can do)
  • Survival
We can choose behaviours that are 'needs satisfying' or behaviours that are ineffective and possibly damaging to ourselves or others. If we value relationships, we can make a plan to satisfy our needs in more effective ways.

If you would like to learn more about William Glasser's ideas, please follow this link: 

In this activity, children recorded the things in their "Quality Worlds". They expressed the things that were important to them, such as their families, hobbies, interests, values, likes, dislikes, etc.
They talked about things they wanted, but possibly could not have. We talked about how we can decide if we want to be happy by changing the 'pictures in our heads' and replacing them with pictures of things that are still 'needs satisfying'. 

PROGRAM ACHIEVE

Another Social Skills Program that we use at our school is PROGRAM ACHIEVE. This focuses on 5 main areas: Organisation, Persistence, Confidence, Resilience, and Getting Along.  These skills are essential to develop if we wish to form positive relationships and achieve in life. 

Here's a little task we did for 'Organisation.' We used skewers, straws and core flute (available at Bunnings)



Kids: Are you worried? 
Do you need any help?
Kids Helpline in Australia will listen to your worries:
call 1800 55 1800 
Call any time! 24 hours. It doesn't have to be an emergency. 
(Or you can email or chat via the web counselling during certain hours - see website for more details.)
Parent resources to support kids with social and emotional learning:


You can download sheets with strategies to help kids with feelings, confidence, fears, self-talk, anger, friendships, choices, conflict resolution etc. 

Kids Matter

Resources to help you know some of the symptoms and strategies for coping with children who may have ADHD, Impulsive behaviour, Negative thinking, Autism, Aspergers, Dyslexia, Anxiety, Depression, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, etc . Follow the link above and download the file that says "Component 4 Early Intervention for students experiencing mental health difficulties information pack"

 UNHELPFUL THINKING STYLES:
This website below also has a great summary of 'Unhelpful Thinking Styles': http://media.psychologytools.org/Worksheets/English/Unhelpful_Thinking_Styles.pdf

We did an activity looking at Black and White thinking (All or Nothing Thinking) We wrote an antidote thought to stop the poison thoughts. Children made paper bag creatures where they could store their antidote thoughts.









Magnifying and Catastrophising!




BULLY BUSTING DAY

For Bully Busting Day, the children 'bullied' a banana. We talked about the sense of power and fun we can sometimes feel when making fun of something when in a group. We talked about 'nice' fun and 'nasty' fun. The banana was bullied and looked the same on the outside, but when we opened it up, it was 'cut up' and damaged. (I cut it with a pin beforehand!) We did the same activity with an apple and banged it on the ground each time we bullied it. Although it looked the same on the outside, when we cut it open, it was bruised and damaged.


 Another activity that we did on Bully Busting day was to make a 'puffed up' bully. We talked about how a bully gets power from those around them, and how they 'puff up' with power.

We drew a 'bully face' on a balloon. Then we filled a balloon 1/2 full of carb soda. Next, we put 1/3 bottle of vinegar into a drink container. After that, we tipped the carb soda into the bottle and it 'blew up' the balloon. We talked about how we could be bystanders that become the 'pins' and deflate the power of the bully by standing up to them, or getting help.

Our motto is STEP UP, SPEAK UP, NO BULLYING HERE!



A few students even prepared some of their own "Anti-bullying" projects to bring to school for the day. Annilyse, Jayde, Alyssa made a book and Breanna made a box with messages and poems about bullying. It was also a used for a play. Emily made a picture. Thanks to you all!