The Anxiety Project
A whole-school community approach to managing anxiety and building resilience in NSW primary school students.
Description
New South Wales Primary Principals' Association (NSWPPA) has developed a program to address high levels of anxiety among children in New South Wales.
NSWPPA proposes that any solution for childhood anxiety will need to address a number of factors and populations. The following will be addressed by by building the capacity of school leaders, teachers, SLSOs and parents to reduce
children’s anxiety levels in NSW schools:
- School Leaders - through professional learning for school leaders they will design protocols and establish a culture
within their schools aimed at helping children build resilience. - Implementation Coaches (ICs) - through having ICs in schools it will be possible to support teachers (through in-class
mentoring) and parents (through the provision of parent education groups). - Teachers - through the provision of professional learning for teachers it will be possible to counter anxiety habits in
children, as they arise in the school environment. - School Learning Support Staff (SLSOs) – through the provision of professional learning for SLSOs it will be possible to
counter anxious behaviour in a one-on-one setting with those children needing additional support . - Parents - by providing family management training for parents, we can equip parents to better deal with a child’s
mild-level anxiety at home.
Strengths of the program
