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KidsMatter: Building the Capacity of Australian Primary Schools and Early Childhood Services to Foster Children’s Social and Emotional Skills and Promote Children’s Mental Health

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Social and Emotional Learning in Australia and the Asia-Pacific

Abstract

KidsMatter is an Australian promotion, prevention and early intervention mental health initiative currently being implemented in over 3,000 primary schools and 400 early childhood services. It provides a framework for addressing children’s mental health that includes: creating a positive environment; fostering children’s social and emotional skills; supporting parenting; and early intervention for children experiencing mental health difficulties. KidsMatter recognises that children who have developmentally appropriate social and emotional skills are more likely to have better outcomes than children who are less competent. Children develop social and emotional skills in the context of their relationships with the significant adults in their lives, including parents, carers and educators. KidsMatter supports early childhood services and schools to embed social and emotional learning (SEL) within the curriculum provided for children. It recommends the implementation of evidence-based SEL programs, but also emphasises the importance of using daily interactions with children to support the development of their SEL skills, providing opportunities for children to practice and adapt their SEL skills and working collaboratively with families to assist children’s development of SEL skills.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Psychological Society, Melbourne, Australia

    Lyn Littlefield, Sarah Cavanagh, Rebecca Knapp & Lyn O’Grady

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  1. Lyn Littlefield
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  2. Sarah Cavanagh
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  3. Rebecca Knapp
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  4. Lyn O’Grady
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Correspondence to Lyn O’Grady .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Erica Frydenberg

  2. University of New South Wales, School of Education, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Andrew J. Martin

  3. School of Education, University of New South Wales School of Education, Sydney, Australia

    Rebecca J. Collie

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Littlefield, L., Cavanagh, S., Knapp, R., O’Grady, L. (2017). KidsMatter: Building the Capacity of Australian Primary Schools and Early Childhood Services to Foster Children’s Social and Emotional Skills and Promote Children’s Mental Health. In: Frydenberg, E., Martin, A., Collie, R. (eds) Social and Emotional Learning in Australia and the Asia-Pacific. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3394-0_16

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