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Middle Years seminar two a success
24 Aug 2011
On Tuesday morning 23 August, it was once again a great pleasure attend and contribute to our Middle Years seminar series, this time on social and emotional development.
The seminar was held at Parliament House, with members of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Children and Young People in attendance.
As with the first seminar, the event was well attended and went very smoothly, so thanks to everyone involved. Well done! The audiovisual material put together from you young participants’ diaries is up on our youtube channel at
http://www.youtube.com/user/CCYPmedia.
The first seminar is streamed online at http://vioca.st/MiddleYearsOfChildhood, with the second coming soon.
The middle years of childhood is a time when kids’ capacity for understanding consequences and managing emotions and decision-making coincides with a major transition from primary to high school. These kids are learning to adjust to the demands of very different learning environments while increasingly exposed to new risks and challenges, as they seek to make sense of their world away from their parents.
Facilitated by Julie McCrossin, seminar speakers included:
Clinical Professor David Bennett AO
The Head of the NSW Centre for the Advancement of Adolescent Health, his presentation ‘Social and emotional development – challenges for all concerned’ examined the developmental journey of children as they form a sense of identity in middle childhood and how this can impact on parents & carers.
Mr Ian Luscombe, Principal of Redbank School, Westmead NSW
His presentation ‘Challenging behaviours in middle childhood – effective prevention and intervention strategies for schools’ outlined three major strategies for managing disruptive behaviour including the importance of adults being social model, creating effective management strategies and supporting children through relationships and engagement with education.
Ms Lyn Worsley, Clinical Psychologist
Her presentation ‘Building resilience in middle childhood – a strengths-based approach’ looked at the importance of the peer group, school policies that enhance or hinder social and emotional development, parenting groups in schools and practical interventions to build resilience in children experiencing difficulties.
The third and final of the series, “Contemporary risks” will be held in October. Find out more about the Commission’s work in the Middle Years at: http://kids.nsw.gov.au/kids/ourwork/middleyears.cfm
