The Character Initiative

The Character Initiative is a unique program that encompasses a range of activities and programs to help our students from ELC to Year 12 develop character traits that will help them thrive at school, out-ofschool and into the future.

Character is not something that is simply taught at Kilvington; it is something that is deeply encouraged by all teachers and embodied by our students on a daily basis. It is apparent in the way that our students interact with other students, teachers, and even with themselves. This is what sets Kilvington apart from other schools.

Why Teach Character?

Common sense tells us that when we are resilient, courageous, curious, persistent, diligent and empathic, life is a more rewarding and enjoyable experience. Considerable scientific research now confirms this, and shows that building character strengths in children enables them to function and perform at a high level throughout their life.

Positive psychology studies show that identifying and using character strengths provides a wide range of benefits to students including improved school performance and achievement, enhanced interpersonal and social skills, and greater enjoyment and engagement in school (e.g. improved curiosity, love of learning and creativity).

A 2015 study of primary school and secondary school students published in the Frontiers of Psychology Journal, showed that strengths such as perseverance, social intelligence and self-regulation contribute to positive classroom behaviour while strengths such as love of learning, gratitude and hope enhance school achievement. Other studies demonstrate that developing and using character strength improves the psychological wellbeing of children and adolescents.

Kilvington’s educational philosophy has always been to cater for the whole child. The Character Initiative is an important step towards explicitly contributing to this.

Contributing to Wellbeing At Kilvington, student wellbeing is our first priority. Building character helps young people maintain positive mental health. Individuals who have the capacity to cope with challenges and setbacks by continuing to move towards their goals are less likely to lose hope and become despondent. Identifying, developing and strengthening character traits can move those experiencing distress towards greater wellbeing and enable those who are just ‘doing fine’ to truly flourish.

If together we can develop young people who can thrive in a rapidly changing world with integrity, confidence, empathy and great optimism, then as a community we have succeeded. jon charlton, principal

Which Character Traits Are Taught?

According to experts who study the science of character and wellbeing, there are six classes of virtues that make up 24 universal character strengths.

To make these strengths more relevant to our school environment, Kilvington extensively Moral Virtues researched Civic Virtues models based on these virtues and • Compassion • Community Spirit developed its own Character •Framework made Humility and Service Courage of the following four virtue •classes.

•up Responsible • Respect • Citizenship Civic character virtues • Justice • Moral character virtues • Performance character virtues • Intellectual character virtues

who are wise and Each of these virtuePeople classes are responsible for a cluster of character traits which are embedded into Kilvington’s curriculum and cocurriculum programs from our ELC to Year 12.

Performance Virtues Intellectual Virtues • Creativity • Resilience • Curiosity • Persistence Building prosthetic limbs for landmine victims • Critical Thinking • Leadership • Growth Mindset • Confidence • Meta-cognition • Diligence

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Kilvington Character Education Framework

Civic Virtues Community Spirit and Service Responsible Citizenship

Moral Virtues Compassion Humility Courage Respect Justice

Performance Virtues Resilience Persistence Leadership Confidence Diligence

People who are wise and of good character

Intellectual Virtues Creativity Curiosity Critical Thinking Growth Mindset Meta-cognition

The Character Initiative

Teaching Character from ELC to Year 12 As we continue to build our Character Education Framework, we are constantly looking at ways to embed character strengths into the curriculum at the subject level. We have a variety of character-based flagship programs and electives that support our students in their academic and personal growth.

Semester Trait: Whole of School Each year, a character trait is carefully selected as a point of focus for each term or semester.

These include Gratitude, Grit, Courage and Curiosity. These traits are applied across a wide range of activities throughout the school year.

Inside Out: K – Y6 Each year level studies specific character traits based on Australian native animals through the usage of specific definitions, practical applications, captivating stories from Australian nature and history, memorable songs, and a variety of age-appropriate activities, crafts, and object lessons.

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The Resilience Project delivers emotionally engaging programs to schools and provides us with evidence-based, practical strategies to build resilience. These strategies include empathy, gratitude, mindfulness and emotional literacy. They empower children by providing them with the skills they need to become resilient and confident adults.

Develop Year 7-8

Empower Year 9

Inspire Years 10-12

Educate ALL STAFF

Inside Out

Assembly of Notables

Challenge and Explore

Mindscholar

Share Tree

Social and Emotional Learning

The Resilience Project

Be Your Best Self Character Conference

Educate Elevate

The Resilience Project

The Resilience Project Years 5-6

Coping Skills

The Perspective Project

Assembly of Notables: Y7 Each year, Year 7 culminates with students preparing for the Assembly of Notables. This involves selecting a notable historical figure – usually of great character – to bring to life at a special assembly attended by students, staff and parents. Each student is allocated a mentor to provide support and guidance.

Be Your Best Self Character Conference: Y9 Being our best self takes commitment, resilience and the ability to build a growth mindset. By educating our students on how to have a growth mindset, they will learn during this conference that their most basic abilities can be developed and enhanced through a combination of consistent effort, feedback, appropriate study techniques and hard work.

This view creates a love of learning and the ability to bounce back after challenges, which is essential for success. Students build character, resilience, self-compassion, curiosity, critical thinking and grit.

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Ethics in Leadership: Y9 & Y10 Underpinning this elective are three student leadership committees. Each committee is responsible for the planning and promotion of one major project. They include: • Sustainability/Resourcefulness and Lateral Thinking • Diversity/Celebrating and Respecting Difference • VIA (Values in Action).

Whole school programs: Virtue Day, Termly Trait, Mental Health Week, Community Service through the House System, School Camps

Mind Scholar: Y10 – Y12 Mind Scholar aims to help students thrive by developing key mindset and learning strategies.

Registered psychologists focus on facilitating attitudinal AND behavioural change.

Some of the specific topics covered include: • Managing stress and anxiety • Combating procrastination and improving motivation • Understanding different studying techniques and learning styles • Improving memory and the importance of active and reflective learning • The benefits of developing a Growth as opposed to a Fixed mindset • Managing negative thinking.

Kilvington has a responsibility to define, cultivate and model our character traits and integrate them into all teaching. davina mcclure, deputy principal

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Staff Accreditation Kilvington is a ShareTree Character Endorsed School. All teaching staff have completed the Introduction to Virtues Certification which is validated by the Virtues Project International Association (VPIA). All staff have participated in The Introduction to Virtues and Character workshop.

Schools have the responsibility to both ensure students are equipped with knowledge necessary to prepare them for their adult lives, but also to develop their emotional intelligence and character to flourish post-secondary education. stoll, 2009

There is a very strong link between building character and personal and academic growth. The resilient child gets up quickly after a challenge.

The persistent child gives 100% effort and keeps trying. The child with the growth mindset practises until they perfect a skill. And it is the critical thinker who applies strategy to their learning. We are in a unique position as educators to be able to teach virtues both implicitly and explicitly. martine walls, character initiative, program director References 1. Oppenheimer, M. F., Fialkov, C., Ecker, B., & Portnoy, S. (2014). Teaching to strengths: Character education for urban middle school students. Journal of Character Education, 10(2), 91-105. Peterson, C., & Park, N. (2009). Classifying and measuring strengths of character. In S. J. Lopez & C. R. Snyder (Eds.), Oxford handbook of positive psychology, 2nd edition (pp. 25-33).

New York: Oxford University Press.

2. Rashid, T., Anjum, A., Lennox, C., Quinlan, D., Niemiec, R. M., Mayerson, D., & Kazemi, F. (2013). Assessment of character strengths in children and adolescents. In Research, applications, and interventions for children and adolescents (pp. 81-115).

Springer Netherlands.

3. Shoshani, A., & Slone, M. (2012). Middle school transition from the strengths perspective: Young adolescents’ character strengths, subjective well-being, and school adjustment. Journal of Happiness Studies.

4. Wagner, L., & Ruch, W. (2015). Good character at school: Positive classroom behaviour mediates the link between character strengths and school achievement. Frontiers in Psychology. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00610 5. Weber, M., & Ruch, W. (2012b). The role of a good character in 12-year-old school children: Do character strengths matter in the classroom? Child Indicators Research, 5 (2), 317-334.