The Australian Curriculum (ACARA) is made up of three components: Learning Areas, General Capabilities and Cross-curriculum priorities. All three components are important and overlap each other in supporting each of our students’ in accessing a well-rounded education.

When it comes to the Personal and Social Capability, students come to school with different levels of ability and understanding of resilience, motivation, empathy, ability to develop friendships, understanding what acceptable behaviour is, ability to deal with problems and general self worth – I could go on and on!

Just as a teacher teaches English and Mathematics and would use strategies to support a child’s learning, a teacher explicitly models strategies and uses questions to help develop Hackham East students Personal and Social development for them to become responsible and valued members of our school community.

From the Personal and Social Capability in ACARA.

Personal and social capability supports students in becoming creative and confident individuals who have a sense of self-worth, self-awareness and personal identity that enables them to manage their emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical wellbeing’, with a sense of hope and ‘optimism about their lives and the future’. On a social level, it helps students to ‘form and maintain healthy relationships’ and prepares them ‘for their potential life roles as family, community, and workforce members

Students with well-developed social and emotional skills find it easier to manage themselves, relate to others, develop resilience and a sense of self-worth, resolve conflict, engage in teamwork, and feel positive about themselves and the world around them. The development of personal and social capability is a foundation for learning and for citizenship.

At Hackham East Primary School, we support students to develop the Personal and Social Capability in a multitude of ways. We use the Play Is The Way games-based approach alongside our School Values of Good Manners, Tolerance, Resilience, Persistence, Courage, Friendliness and Compassion. Through this approach we support and challenge our students learning regarding building empathy for others, developing their collaborative skills, supporting students to make responsible decisions as well as well as developing the skills needed to build positive relationships with their peers. The games are played each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 9.00am.

Interoception is explicitly taught to support our students to work towards being able to recognize their emotions, identify what their body is telling them, enabling students to act on it appropriately. Interoception exercises are taught daily to teach students the skills and strategies needed for self-management and to self-regulate. It provides students with the tools to know when they are developing emotional reactions and the skills to be in control of those actions. Approximately 40% of our students are part of a small targeted, Interoception group who are seen twice a week for 20 minutes where the exercises are explicitly taught. Students can also access the Interoception room throughout the day when needed.

The reality is that as all students come to school with differing academic abilities. Students also come to school with a differing capacity to collaborate with their peers, get along with others, ability to deal with problems, skills to develop friendships as well as their level of empathy and their ability to self-regulate their emotions. In partnership with parents/caregivers we need to work together to support and develop all these areas within our students.

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