Auckland schools get friendly with social and emotional resilience

Ōtāhuhu Primary School is among the 30 schools and kura within Ngā Manu Aroha participating in the FRIENDS Resilience Programme.

With a focus on social and emotional learning and cognitive behavioural therapy, the FRIENDS Resilience Programme was developed in Australia in response to the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on students and teachers.

Ngā Manu Aroha – Resource Teachers Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) Cluster 9 purchased a three-year licence for the programme in 2022, due to a need in their schools linked to trauma and anxiety.

Ngā Manu Aroha are a team of 26 itinerant RTLB serving 30 schools and kura in the Auckland areas of Māngere and Ōtāhuhu.

The team lead in charge of wellbeing and FRIENDS, Violet Highley, says the reasons they investigated the programme included the effects of the Covid pandemic, poor attendance, kaiako stress, poverty, and housing needs in their cluster schools.

FRIENDS is an acronym for the skills taught throughout the programme:

• Feelings
• Remember to relax. Have quiet time
• I can do it! I can try! (Helpful inner thoughts)
• Explore solutions and coping step plans
• Now reward yourself! You’ve done your best!
• Don’t forget to practise
• Smile! Stay calm, stay strong and talk to your support networks.

Learning and implementation

The school-based anxiety prevention and resilience programmes can be run by teachers as a whole-class programme, or as a small group intervention.

Each teaches effective coping strategies, problem solving and emotional distress management such as for worry, stress, change and anxiety.

Programme founder Dr Paula Barrett ran an online Zoom session at a professional learning and development day run by the cluster for all RTLBs in Māngere and Ōtāhuhu areas.

“After that, all RTLB were required to complete the online training for FRIENDS Resilience, which was about eight hours in total. RTLB then received four certificates on completion for each of the stages of the programme,” explains Violet.

These stages are Fun FRIENDS (3–7 years) with a focus on positive social development, FRIENDS for Life (8–9 years) with a focus on confidence and emotional strength, My FRIENDS Youth (10–15 years) with a focus on positive peer and family relationship, and Adult Resilience (16 years +) with a focus on finding fulfilment and productivity.

A focus group consisting of 10 RTLB have been specifically involved with implementing the programme in schools and supporting other RTLB to do the same.

Additional teachers in the schools also completed the online training to add breadth and depth to the programme delivery.

Positive outcomes

Outcomes are proving positive, and not just for ākonga.

“We have evidence of several students bouncing back from setbacks and challenges. Teachers have observed a decrease in anti-social behaviour and confidence skills increasing,” says Violet.

Without exception, Violet says teachers have observed positive changes in their students.

“There have been distinct, positive shifts in attitude and outlook of students that have experienced trauma. They have been empowered to cope positively with common negative emotions.

And the impact this has had on teachers has been significant. One intermediate teacher in the cluster commented on the improvement of the students’ behaviour, interpersonal relationships, engagement in classroom activities, and problem-solving abilities. In turn, this positively impacted on the overall learning atmosphere in the class.

“Students are now aware of personal life goal-setting skills, and this has also enhanced their problem-solving. Teachers found that behaviour management was easier and that there was a shared common language within the classroom,” says Violet.

She adds that teachers have also talked about adopting strategies from the programme and implementing them both in their teaching practice and personal lives.

Culturally responsive

A culturally responsive approach supported the programme to be appropriate for students of all cultural backgrounds.

“We needed to be sensitive to the dynamics and cultural diversity of the class, as well as individual student needs, when considering which activities to include (such as if there are neurodiverse students in the class),” says Violet.

The team created lesson plans that took this diversity into consideration, and the importance of building positive relationships between teachers and Māori and Pacific learners.

“Working in a te reo Māori bilingual unit, we integrated the four dimensions of hauora into the FRIENDS lesson planning and teaching.

“Similarly for a predominantly Pacific class, we referenced the fonofale health model and other Pacific frameworks.”

The cluster schools are now into their third year of the programme and Violet says there has been a growing interest in their work.

“The goal now is for RTLB to release the responsibility of implementing the programme to the schools,” says Violet.

“When teachers are fully trained in the programme, they are better able to sustain the positive effects of this.”

The long-lasting benefits are immeasurable, but Violet knows their importance cannot be underestimated.

She says some of the skills they learned from the programme include self-reflection, relaxation techniques and mindfulness, awareness of their own feelings and positively expressing them, as well as the opportunity to further develop collaborative working relationships with school staff.

“Skills we learned from the programme are lifelong and will unquestionably help students and teachers now and in later life, such as navigating life’s challenges, managing stress, regulating emotions and skilfully approaching ordeals.”