Student Wellbeing

Building Resilience

Resilience plays a large role in a child’s development and ability to cope and learn from different situations. Resilience is defined as a capacity to face, overcome and be strengthened by adversity. Statistics show that the psychological health of children is far worse today than that of a generation ago. One quarter of young Australians report experiencing symptoms of mental illness.

There are many ways to approach the idea of resilience and building it within children. Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, a well renowned child and adolescent psychologist, suggests that there are key characteristics that can help to promote and encourage resilience in our children both at home and at school.

Some of these include:

Having a charismatic adult in their life from which they can draw strength. This may be from a parent or another adult (family or friend) who is a positive role model for them.
Developing social and emotional competencies such as problem solving skills, how to manage emotions. This is most effective when modelled by an adult or positive role model.
Teaching children to have ‘positive self-talk’ to improve their confidence and self-esteem
‘Islands of competence’ - meaning an interest that the child has where they get positive recognition from their peers. What is their passion/hobby? This could be anything; music, dance, sport etc
Spirituality – children are bound to a belief system to feel a sense of connectedness and part of something bigger than themselves.

Ideas to incorporate to build resilience:

Saying no – kids need to know who’s in charge
Setting limits and boundaries
Know what’s going on in their lives
Having rituals and traditions (eating dinner at the table)
Communicating
Keeping them busy
Allowing them to experience adversity.

Every newsletter the wellbeing team aims to include useful and informative information regarding the wellbeing of the students at Jells Park Primary School. Keep an eye out for our next articles in the coming newsletters!