The Resilience Project – in the classroom

Each week in the newsletter, staff would like to share some of the fun and engaging learning that takes places amongst our classrooms through The Resilience Project. I’m lucky enough to start us off with a snapshot of some of the activities that the year 11/12 Homegroup have been involved with so far this year.

Each student has their own personal journal, which includes a series of lessons focusing on the themes outlined in the attached photos.

Students recently engaged with a range of gratitude activities – many were able to relate to the ‘if and then model’ lesson, where they explored the negative impact that this style of thinking can have on their happiness. For example: “If I get this new phone, then I’ll be happy” or “If I get my license, then I’ll be happy”. Through a range of class activities, videos and discussion, students understood that the problem with this thinking is that there is always something out there that is better than what we have. Hence, focusing on what we DO have rather than what we don’t have is one strategy to counteract this way of thinking.

Some of the other activities we’ve explored so far this year include: a mindfulness treasure hunt, a class kindness challenge and stress coping strategies. Our mindfulness treasure hunt firstly involved a brief meditation exercise, followed by a careful search around the classroom to notice things that they had never noticed before. Our class kindness challenge involved students filling a box with suggestions for small kind acts – students then picked a random challenge from the box each morning for them to complete. Our stress coping strategies are linked to emotional literacy, which explores the triggers of stress and how we can better manage these in our everyday lives.

Although we are still in the early stages of this program, it is so promising to see some of the life-long skills that are introduced to try and improve the overall happiness and wellbeing of our students, staff and community.

Mr Jayden Coleman

11/12 Homegroup Teacher