Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

Here at Morang South Primary School, we believe that development of social and emotional competence is essential to success. Children who are socially and emotionally well adjusted perform better at school, have increased confidence, cultivate positive relationships, take on and persist at challenging tasks and communicate well.

At Morang South Primary School, we take a holistic approach to learning and believe in nurturing the whole child. As such, we view Social Emotional Learning (SEL) as an integral aspect of both our curriculum and philosophy of teaching and endeavour to foster this learning in all of our students.

There are 5 key skills which constitute good effective social emotional learning:

  1.      Self Awareness
  2.      Self Management
  3.      Social Awareness
  4.      Relationships
  5.      Decision Making

One way we approach the teaching of these skills is through an explicitly taught Social and Emotional Learning program (SEL). This program draws on the best from a wide variety of resources, including the following high quality social and emotional resources.

  • In 2017, Morang South Primary School became one of Victoria’s first lead schools in Respectful Relationships. This federally backed program supports our school to promote and model respect, positive attitudes and behaviours. It teaches our children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence.
  • After a lot of hard work, we are now a fully accredited KidsMatter (Be You) school. Did you know that Flinders University evaluated the KidsMatter program and found it significantly improved the mental health and wellbeing of students, the quality of schoolwork, the ability of parents, carers and teachers to help children deal with problems?
  • Our Prep children participate in the You Can Do It! Program which is designed to strengthen the personal, social and performance capabilities of children.
  • Resilience is fundamental to success. It is our ability to adapt and bounce back when things don’t go quite as planned. Resilient people work through failures; they acknowledge the situation, learn from their mistakes, and then move forward. Through the Bounce Back Program and developing a Growth Mindset our SEL program supports our student to develop the mindsets to be resilient.
  • In addition, the Buddy Program at Morang South Primary school is extremely successful. This social and emotional awareness program promotes mentoring and responsibility in our older students and helps our younger students to feel safe and welcome in the school environment.