Principal Report
In the words of former prime minister of Australia Malcom Fraser – ‘Life wasn’t meant to be easy’. It seems like the negatives in life are overtaking the positives.
In this newsletter I thought that I could write about ‘Bucket Filling’.
Many classrooms at Oatlands use the concept of bucket filling to educate children about feelings and emotions.
The underlying message is that each person carries with them an invisible bucket and when that bucket is full, the person is feeling happy, confident, secure, calm and content.
On the other hand, if a person is carrying an empty bucket, they are feeling upset, down, dissatisfied and unhappy. The goal is to help individuals monitor and understand how full or empty their bucket is as a gauge for determining how they are feeling.
If your ‘bucket’ is full, you are probably feeling happy, confident, secure, calm and content.
A ‘bucket filler’ is a person who behaves in a way that helps to fill another person’s bucket. By being kind, empathetic and compassionate – we can help fill other people’s buckets so that they too can feel better. A foundational aspect of the concept of bucket filling is that it allows children and adults to better express how they are feeling and to better understand how they have an impact on the way that others feel, thus improving emotional and social skills, and improving self-regulation.
When this concept is understood, it is easier to help children reflect on their words and actions and recognise how they are contributing to other people’s mental health and wellbeing.
How do you fill a bucket?
You can fill someone else’s bucket by acting in a way that is supportive, helpful and kind. There are many ideas on ways to do this, some of which I have listed below.
Here are some simple ways to fill someone’s bucket:
- A hug
- Share something with them
- Let them overhear you saying something kind about them to someone else
- Practise gratitude with them
- Use your manners
- Create ways to include them
- Think of something kind you can do for someone else and do it together
- Bake something for them, or bake together
- Write a thank you note
- Tell someone you are proud of them, with a specific reason why
- Leave sticky notes for someone, with kind messages on them
- Listen when someone needs you to listen
- Tell someone you love, that you love them
- Smile
- Do something fun!
It’s important to fill buckets for those around you when they need it! Don’t be a bucket dipper!
The following link takes you to an audio book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOJy8-OC0iU
Spend some time this week watching this with your child/children and become a ‘Bucket Filling Family’
John Armao
Assistant Principal
