The Buildcorp Foundation & the NSW Department of Education are collaborating to deliver a new social-emotional learning program in public schools to support young students.
The Buildcorp Foundation is pleased to announce a $1million investment in the Second Step® program.
The Foundation will collaborate with provider Positive Pieces Education with support from charity partners, Schools Plus and the Public Education Foundation, and invest $1million to implement an evidence-based social-emotional learning program called Second Step® that provides explicit instruction through fully scripted teacher-led lessons.
Positive Pieces Education has been working alongside NSW Ministry of Health since 2019 to deliver Second Step into NSW Public Schools as part of their Got It! program initiative. The program is a universal Tier 1 program, and aligns with the Australian Curriculum, NSW PDHPE curriculum and the NSW Wellbeing Framework for Schools. Applications for the first round have now closed with the maximum cohort of 65 schools to commence implementation of the program from May. This is the first tranche of schools to come on board with up to four more intakes planned across the project timeline.
Josephine Sukkar AM Chair of the Buildcorp Foundation said: “Our goal is to reduce the number of Australians who die by suicide by putting tools into the hands of Australian schoolchildren. Our plan is to continue our fundraising and investing until all Australian children and their families receive the support they need to develop good mental health.”
“Like the saying ‘You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust your sails’ – the wind is changing. The world is changing. And we need to teach our kids how to adjust their sails.”
The Buildcorp Foundation has long been investing in supporting the preventative end of the mental health spectrum, having previously invested $1.2million, dollar matched by the NSW Government, into the Smiling Mind program in 2021.
The Smiling Mind program was designed to empower the next generation to strengthen their wellbeing and resilience, over 143,826 students and 10,428 educators at 455 schools across NSW, VIC and QLD were provided with the tools to improve their mindfulness.
This investment is in addition to the Foundation’s ongoing support of Lifeline’s crisis support services. In 2025 the Foundation will donate a further $250,000 to Lifeline Australia, bringing our ten-year partnership to over $2,325,000.
Second Step Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) for Kindergarten to Year 6 is a classroom-based program designed to increase students’ school success and decrease challenging behaviours by promoting social-emotional competence and self-regulation. Second Step SEL targets key risk and protective factors linked to a range of challenging behaviours. Equipping students with Second Step skills helps a school create a safe, healthy and positive learning environment for all.
Teaching SEL in schools, as a whole school approach, creates a climate of success and well-being. In fact, several studies have discovered SEL programs have shown to improve students’ academic performance as well as attitudes about themselves and others. This is why we work with schools to curate a whole school approach, with resources for administrators and access to training materials for all school staff.
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About Positive Pieces
Founded in 2014, Positive Pieces Education is a purpose-driven organisation with a mission to provide evidence-based programs and educational resources to support the social-emotional wellbeing of students and educators, contributing to positive school communities across Australia and New Zealand. We are the Australian publishers of Second Step®. To date, Second Step has been implemented in over 900 schools across Australia and New Zealand.
About Second Step
Second Step Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) for Kindergarten to Year 6 is a classroom-based program designed to increase students’ school success and decrease challenging behaviours by promoting social-emotional competence and self-regulation. Second Step SEL targets key risk and protective factors linked to a range of challenging behaviours. Equipping students with Second Step skills helps a school create a safe, healthy and positive learning environment for all.
Second Step classroom kits include everything you need to teach the program year after year. There are no ongoing costs once the program has been purchased, nor are there any subscription fees to continue using the program year after year.
Second Step lessons for Kindergarten to Year 6 have been aligned with the NSW PDHPE curriculum and the NSW Wellbeing Framework for Schools.
About Got It!
Got It! is a specialised mental health early intervention program for children in Kindergarten to Year 2 (K-2) aged 5-8 years who display emerging conduct problems such as defiant, aggressive and disruptive behaviours. The targeted clinical program is delivered in the school setting in conjunction with universal Got It! interventions (including teaching the Second Step program to all students in the classrooms) at a point in children’s development when intervention is likely to be effective. Locating the program in the school setting supports engagement with children and families.
Got It! aims to: