Building Resilience
Overview
Parent Brochure
What is resilience and why build it?
The word ‘resilience’ is used to describe the capacity people have to cope, learn and thrive
in the face of change, challenge or adversity. Some children and young people find it
harder than others to cope with the challenges they face in life. However, all children and
young people develop coping strategies to help them deal with stress and challenge.
There are things that families and schools can do to help build the resilience of children
and young people, and to help them to develop positive coping strategies.
What are the key skills for resilience?
 Self-awareness– understanding emotions and needs and being able to
communicate them to others
 Self-control– managing anger and anxiety and the expression of emotions
 Social awareness– being aware of the needs and feelings of others, and building
the capacity to respect those with different views or beliefs
 Social management– developing the skills and confidence to talk and mix with other
children and adults, and to work and play well with others
 Responsibility– taking responsibility for a range of tasks, such as tidying up, doing
their homework and helping others
 Effort and persistence– understanding the importance of hard work and
persistence
 Hope– believing in the possibility of a good future and in the value of education
 Self-esteem– feeling proud of the effort they make at school, and their efforts to get
along with others, and to be part of the family
 Problem-solving skills – building the capacity to think about how to deal with a
range of challenges
 Positive coping strategies – developing the capacity to cheer themselves up, calm
themselves down, ask for help when needed, and to work out ways to solve a
problem
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
What are the factors that influence resilience?
A range of risk and protective factors influence the resilience and wellbeing of children and
young people:
 Risk factors are the conditions or influences that increase the probability that an
individual will experience negative health or learning outcomes
 Protective factors are the conditions or influences that either have positive effects or
help to reduce the impact of risk factors
 Risk and protective factors occur at the level of the individual, the family, the school,
and the community
 One way to help children and young people to become more resilient is to help
them build their protective factors, as in many instances it is not possible to remove
risk factors.
Some examples of risk and protective factors at the individual,
school, family and community level:
Individual
Risk factors
Protective factors:
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Physical and intellectual disability
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Poor health in infancy

Insecure attachment to carers in

Above-average intelligence
infant/child

Achieving well at school

Low intelligence

Problem-solving skills

Difficult or sensitive temperament

Belief that they can control their own

Chronic illness
Feeling attached to family (feeling caring and
cared for)
behaviour

Social competence in relating well with others
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Optimism or a sense of hope for a positive
Family
future
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Family in poverty or economic insecurity

Parents unemployed
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Homelessness

Death of family member

Caring for someone with illness/
disability

Divorce and family break up
Building resilience in children & young people: Parent Materials
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Supportive caring parents

Family gets along well together

More than two years between siblings

Have some responsibility for helping at home

Supportive relationship with other adult

Sense of belonging/connectedness

Friendly school

Has caring friends

Required responsibility/ helpfulness

Opportunities for success

Recognition of achievement

School does not accept violence or bullying

Interested in learning
often in trouble

Positive behaviour management

Failing to learn

Positive teacher-student relationships

Truancy

Collaborative teaching strategies where

Changing schools or school transition

Family/parents not interested in their

Bullying

Rejected by peers

Racism

Homophobia

Don’t feel like they belong or fit in at
School
school

Inadequate behaviour management

Member of a friendship group that is
students get to work with each other
learning

Negative relationship with teachers
Why is feeling connected to school important?
Children and young people who feel cared for by people at their school and feel connected
to learning are more likely to be motivated to work hard and to believe that they can
succeed at learning. They are also more likely to do well in their learning.
Children and young people who feel connected to school and believe in the value of
getting a good education are less likely to use alcohol or other drugs in a harmful way, to
be violent or get into fights, are less likely to experience mental health problems like
depression or anxiety and less likely to begin sexual relationships at an early age.
What is Building Resilience?
Building Resilience is based on research which highlights the importance of taking a multidimensional school-wide approach to building resilience. It assists schools to:
•
Partner with the school community, including families and local and community
services
•
Lead activity across the school, orchestrating a comprehensive approach
•
Teach social and emotional skills to all students across all year levels
•
Support those young people identified as needing additional assistance
•
Refer those in need to appropriate services
Through addressing each of these components, children and young people will be
supported to develop the skills they need to become balanced, happy adults.
Building resilience in children & young people: Parent Materials
The Building Resilience Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Materials
A key component of Building Resilience is a suite of new SEL materials, available for all
Victorian schools for year levels from Prep to 12. These materials are designed to support
young people to develop key life skills, such as relationship building, help-seeking, and
decision making, and help them to cope with the challenges around a range of complex
issues such as relationships, emotions and stress. The materials cover six topics:
 Emotional literacy
 Personal strengths
 Positive coping
 Problem-solving
 Stress management
 Help-seeking
Parents and carers can support their children by talking at home about some of the ideas
presented in the materials.
What can parents and carers do to support resilience building?
 Establish a safe and supportive
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environment
Set clear rules and boundaries
requiring respect and cooperation
Teach social and emotional skills
Role-model strong social and
emotional skills
Set strong expectations about
effort, attitudes and behavior
Encourage children to work hard at
school
Create opportunities to help
children learn to mix well with other
children and adults
 Encourage children to show
respect and consideration for
others
 Give responsibilities so children
learn how to help out and to
contribute to others
 Teach children important social
skills and values
 Give attention to positive
behaviours in order to reward and
reinforce them
Useful links
 SAFEMinds
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/parents/health/Pages/mentalhealth.aspx
 Kidshelpline https:// www.kidshelp.com.au/
 Reachout https:// www.au.reachout.com/
 Beyond blue https:// www.beyondblue.org.au/
 Headspace https://www.headspace.org.au
 Smiling mind https:// www.smilingmind.com.au/
For further information, references and the evidence base, please see the Building
Resilience in Children and Young People literature review (hyperlink)
Building resilience in children & young people: Parent Materials