School Counsellor & new Social Skills Program
Hi, my name is Akira Ernst and I am a Psychologist working with Catholic Education Services. I am based in Cairns; however, you may have seen me around the school over the last year. I am both the School Counsellor and Psychologist for St Joseph’s and visit twice a term, for one week on each occasion. My role is to provide support to the school with social and emotional wellbeing. My focus for Term 3 and 4 has been to co-ordinate the facilitation of social skill programs. You will also notice more input in the newsletter from me in the future, covering topics such as mental health, emotional regulation and resilience. I’m looking forward to continuing my involvement within our school community to support the students.
St Joseph’s Social Skills Programs
In addition to our Social and Emotional Learning program within the curriculum, the school is commencing multiple school based social skills programs, including VIP Club, We Thinkers and Friendology. These programs are to support students who the school has identified as needing assistance to develop social skills, or have difficulty with friendships. At times, students with well-developed social skills may be selected to attend to be role models for others. If you have any questions about the programs or do not wish your child to participate, please feel free to contact the school.
VIP Club will run twice a term, Tuesday to Friday during second lunch. The classroom teachers select two students each day to attend. VIP Club promotes social thinking, friendships, sharing and taking turns in a fun way. Each session, a range of games and activities are made available to encourage cooperation. The students will be guided to develop their social skills through the use of teachable moments, conflict resolution and social thinking skills in a fun and supportive environment.
The We Thinkers program is a small, group-based program used to develop self-awareness, understanding of others’ perspectives, problem solving and social and emotional learning. This is to complement the social and emotional learning program that is being implemented within the curriculum, across the school. We will be implementing the program with Prep to Year 3 classes. Two School Officers, Kym Wallace and Chrissy van Pelt, will be facilitating this program following school-based training.
Friendology is a friendship-based program that we will use for students in Years 4-6. It is a program that explicitly teaches children how to develop healthy friendships and manage conflict in a positive way. We are in the process of planning how this program will be facilitated in the school, with the current intention that it will be a classroom-based program.