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now supports what parents and teachers have long known: Social and emotional factors also have a huge impact on academic performance. Catholic Education Services Cairns believes that it has an obligation to help our children acquire the skills they need to become productive and contributing members of our society. As part of this responsibility, we encourage our schools to ensure that children are well trained in academic subjects and also given the social-emotional skills that build character and lay the foundation of good citizenship. Scholastic achievement must go hand-in-hand with the acquisition of traits such as honesty, cooperation, fairness, respect for others, kindness, trustworthiness, the ability to resolve conflict, and the insight to understand why such character traits are important. We recognize the importance of integrating social, emotional, and academic factors for effective learning.
WHAT IS SEL? (Social Emotional Learning)Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) refers to the process by which children and adults develop the fundamental social and emotional competencies essential to success in school and in the workplace, including the skills necessary to recognize and manage emotions, develop care and concern for others, form positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and successfully handle the demands of growing up in today's complex society. These skills are a bulwark against bullying, peer pressure, disrespectful behavior toward adults, dangerous risk-taking around sex, drugs, and alcohol--all those negative behaviors that threaten our children's well-being and our schools' orderly functioning. Students with social skills and emotional awareness do better both socially and academically. They become attached to school and motivated to engage in their studies, work well with other children and demonstrate good citizenship, and handle both stresses and daily responsibilities more effectively. Recent child development research reveals four distinct principles of social and emotional development:
Definitions of SEL Instructional Categories
WHAT ARE WE DOING?The Catholic school communities of Cairns, motivated by contemporary, sound research, are working to develop a coordinated system to support the SEL development of all children. This process involves a coordinated approach involving partnerships of school, family and community. Young People Since 2001 almost all of our schools have implemented the framework and programme of YOU CAN DO IT! Education, authored by Professor Michael E. Bernard. YCDI ! Education provides school communities with a developmentally sequenced curriculum to enable young people to acquire the SEL competencies. Parents Our schools value families. It is understood that parent and family involvement increases student achievement and success and psychological and social well-being; therefore working with parents to strengthen family capabilities to positively influence their children is a priority. With Investing in Parents (a YCDI programme for parents) many parents over the years have been trained and have formed Parent Education Teams to provide themselves and fellow parents with a means to strengthen those capabilities that have been found to be beneficial to children's development:
Staff All schools implementing YCDI! Education have made a commitment to ongoing professional development of all staff to strengthen staff capacity to assist all young people acquire the necessary SEL competencies foundational to academic achievement and success in work and life. Mrs Kerry Bird is the Social Emotional Learning Officer for the diocese and works with Parent Education Teams at most schools in the diocese in supporting YCDI! Education. Contact Kerry at the Catholic Education Services office or by email: kerryb@ceo.cairns.catholic.edu.au |
There is no doubt that if our children are to be successful in school and life, they must have excellent teachers and high-quality instruction. But scientifically-based research 
