When deciding on a wellbeing resource for your school, every school considers how this will benefit students, staff and the community. Every school in Australia is unique and likely not a single program will work for that school. A balanced approach where multiple platforms will come together to get the balance right for your school. 2 programs that compliment each other are Smiling Mind and Life Skills GO. An analysis below will demonstrate the benefits and strengths of each program and the benefits for the whole school.
The wellbeing resources you choose for your school will vary depending on a variety of needs. You may have specific areas you wish to address, such as readiness to learn, attendance or behaviour, or particular topic areas such as resilience or managing relationships, amongst others. Or you may have a focus on learning support. You may also be considering the broader needs of students, teachers and school leadership, including SEL, PHPDE syllabus and the reporting and measuring of your wellbeing program (particularly against the excellence framework).
If you have very specific mindfulness goals, you will likely find Smiling Mind is an excellent resource that is effective in many ways. And while it is a great quality resource, it does stand alone and requires measurement and reporting against outcomes through other means. So how does a program like Smiling Mind support you and your students in the above areas compared to a full platform such as Life Skills GO?
| Smiling Mind | Life Skills GO |
| Improves attention, improves working memory, and reduces stress levels | Helps students identify, communicate and manage emotions |
| Focus on mindfulness and meditation practice | Mindfulness activities that fit into Individual Lesson Plans |
| SEL and creativity based learning | All content is evidence-based and aligned to several education frameworks (Australian & State Curriculum / CASEL / Skills for 21st Century Learning (WEF) |
| Not aligned with PDHPE syllabus | PDHPE syllabus aligned and measurable content |
| Professional Development offered | Professional Development offered |
| General Wellbeing | Whole School Wellbeing with Executive Reporting Function to help you track progress |
| Includes Smiling Mind For kids and Smiling Mind Activities | 200+ online age-based lessons across six key learning areas of social, emotional learning, 100+ printable resources and 100+ video age appropriate resources |
If you have already using Smiling Mind see the added benefits of adding Life Skills GO to your Wellbeing program and see the benefits below to add to your wellbeing whole school solution.
When considering resources for your school, it is important to consider how they support your students across SEL and curriculum outcomes.
The benefits of whole school wellbeing program implementation include:
- Increased student engagement levels
- Positive behavioural Changes
- Greater levels of resilience
- Close alignment with existing curriculum
With this holistic, full school view being so critical, how do you know which whole-school wellbeing program is right for your school?
Things to look for when looking for a Wellbeing Program:
- Whole School Wellbeing Approach
- Individual Learning Plans
- Reporting Functions
- PDHPE Syllabus aligned content
- Practical and Solution based units
- SEL Framework based
- PDs for Teachers and Executives
- Evidence based
Reporting ToolsLife Skills GO offers a selection of functions relevant and helpful for teachers and executives. For instance, reporting tools and data evaluation functions are not available in other Wellbeing platforms. These functions collate data gathered from lessons and present it in easy-to-read graphs. This enables teachers to gain insights and a richer understanding of their students.
PDHPE Syllabus Platforms such as Smiling Mind provide students with tools in building resilience via mindfulness practice. Life Skills GO, however, goes above and beyond with PDHPE aligned content, based on the 21st Century Learning Model and SEL Framework. Providing a program that is syllabus aligned is important to teachers who must adhere to the curriculum structure. Life Skills GO also follows The Wellbeing Framework for Schools.
Professional DevelopmentLife Skills Group also provides Professional Development for Teachers and Executives. These sessions have proven to be invaluable to teachers and principals. Some examples of our previous PDs include ‘Wellbeing for Leadership Teams’ and ‘Wellbeing for Executives’. These tools help schools reach their wellbeing goals on an organisational, pedagogical, and relational level. Life Skills GO also provides comprehensive measurement and reporting tools to help schools track and assess student wellbeing over time. It is unique in its approach to whole school wellbeing and is multifaceted in its development. In assessing the right Wellbeing Platform for your school, be sure to check out Life Skills GO.