Friendships get more complex
Social groups shift, loyalties change, and disagreements carry more weight than they did in the early years.
- Home
- Why It Matters
The need
Building skills for calmer, healthier communities.
Emotional resilience and conflict skills are the ability to respond to stressful or unexpected situations, and to react appropriately to the problem in front of you. They affect everyone — regardless of age, identity or life experience.
The real-world problem
Conflict is normal. Handling it well is a skill.
Disagreements and hurt feelings are an ordinary part of growing up. They happen in every school and every year level.
The issue isn't that conflict occurs. It's that students are expected to navigate it without ever being taught how.
Without those skills, a student's options narrow fast. They can't name the feeling. They don't notice frustration building. They have no way to say “this upset me” that doesn't sound like an accusation.
So reactions take over — and a two-minute problem becomes something a teacher has to untangle.
These are learnable skills. They can be taught, practised and strengthened — the same way we teach reading, or swimming, or road safety.
The three problems we're solving
- Students struggle to work through problems on their own, so disagreements end up needing teacher intervention.
- Younger students find it hard to communicate their emotions — they feel something strongly but can't put it into words.
- Students react before they think, because regulating a strong emotion in the moment is a skill they haven't been taught.
None of these describe a problem child. They describe a gap in skills — and gaps in skills can be closed.
What schools do now
The current approach is reactive.
Schools already do a lot here, and they do it well. Most rely on some combination of:
- A trusted adult students can approach for help
- A reflection space where a student can reset
- Short learning sessions on regulation strategies
- A structured conversation once emotions have settled
Every one of these is valuable. But they mostly happen after something has gone wrong — and they depend on an adult being available.
Mind Matters works the other way around: it gives students the strategies before the moment arrives, and lets them practise until the strategies feel usable on their own.
Target audience
Who Mind Matters is for.
Students are who the workshop is for. Schools are who we work with.
Who takes part
Year 3–6 students, roughly ages 8–12.
- Old enough to reflect on their own reactions
- Navigating increasingly complex friendships
- Often never explicitly taught what to do with big feelings
Who books it
Primary schools and K–12 schools with Year 3–6 students.
- Principals and deputy principals
- Wellbeing coordinators and student support staff
- Heads of year and classroom teachers
Where we're starting
In the early stages we're focused on independent and private schools with Year 3–6 students, who are best placed to fund a workshop directly. Longer term, we want to pursue government funding and grants so public schools can run it just as easily — cost shouldn't decide which students get these skills.
This shapes everything: the activities are pitched for upper primary, while the practical detail school staff need — timing, group size, cost, what's included — is set out plainly on For Schools.
Why Year 3–6
Upper primary is a practical window.
Ages 8–12 is the sweet spot: mature enough to understand the topic properly, early enough that what they learn becomes habit rather than correction.
Self-reflection is developing
Students at this age can begin to notice their own reactions and consider perspectives other than their own.
Habits are still forming
Early enough that strategies are retained and built on, rather than having to undo a pattern later.
Research & evidence
The case for starting early, in three steps.
The need is already present in primary school. Left unaddressed, it grows. And these skills respond to being taught.
Primary-aged
Evidence about primary-school students specifically — what justifies targeting Years 3–6.
Consequences
Evidence about older age groups, included to show where the need leads when it isn't met early. Not evidence about Year 3–6 students.
Every figure is attributed. We don't use research to claim the workshop produces specific outcomes.
Step one
The need is already there in primary school.
These three Australian findings are about primary-aged students specifically. They're why the workshop targets Years 3–6.
56%
of Australian Year 4 students reported experiencing bullying monthly or weekly
Higher than the figure for Year 8 students (43%). Conflict between students doesn't begin in secondary school.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australia's children (Bullying), reporting TIMSS 2015 data. aihw.gov.au
13.6%
of Australian children aged 4–11 experienced a mental disorder in the previous 12 months
Wellbeing needs are present in the primary years — not something that arrives later with adolescence.
Lawrence, D. et al. (2015), The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents, Australian Government Department of Health. health.gov.au
46.3%
of 4–11 year olds with a mental disorder had used a health service for it
Compared with 60.7% of 12–17 year olds. The youngest students are the least likely to be connected to support — which is exactly why teaching these skills to a whole class matters.
Lawrence, D. et al. (2015); summarised by the Young Minds Matter survey, The Kids Research Institute Australia. youngmindsmatter.thekids.org.au
Step two
Left unaddressed, this is where it leads.
These figures describe older age groups — on purpose. They show what's at stake when emotional resilience is never built early.
42.9%
of Australians aged 16 to 25 have experienced a mental health disorder
By early adulthood, nearly half. The skills that protect wellbeing are rarely taught before they're needed.
Suicide Prevention Queensland, Mental Health and Resilience.
Note: ages 16–25, not Year 3–6 students.
51.6%
increase in emergency department visits for attempted suicide among teenage girls in early 2021
The most serious end of what happens when young people have no way to manage distress.
What's Happened to Emotional Resilience? (2022).
Note: teenagers, not Year 3–6 students.
12%
of UK children aged 10–15 reported being unhappy with school
Almost one in eight, with a continuing decline in children's wellbeing over the previous decade.
The Children's Society (2022), The Good Childhood Report 2022.
childrenssociety.org.uk
Note: UK data, ages 10–15.
To be clear: these are not statistics about Year 3–6 students, and we don't present them as such. They describe where the need goes when it isn't met early — and they're the reason we think it's worth starting at eight, not eighteen.
Step three
The good news: these skills respond to teaching.
A landmark meta-analysis of 213 school-based social and emotional learning programs, covering 270,034 students from kindergarten to high school, found participants showed improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behaviour and academic performance — a gain equivalent to 11 percentile points in achievement.
Durlak, J. A. et al. (2011), Child Development, 82(1), 405–432. View study. This covers all school ages across multiple countries and evaluates structured SEL programs generally — not Mind Matters.
Emotional resilience and conflict skills aren't fixed traits. They can be learned and strengthened — through self-awareness, emotional awareness and regulation. That's what a workshop can realistically start.
What shapes it
Emotional regulation isn't fixed.
A student's ability to manage and respond to an emotional situation shifts depending on what else is going on for them. Known factors include:
- Sleep — a tired student has far less capacity to self-regulate
- Stress — pressure at home or school narrows the window
- Mental health conditions — which can make regulation harder day to day
- Support — whether there's a trusted adult nearby, and whether the student will use them
Source: Emotion Regulation Clinic, Floreat WA.
This is why we teach strategies rather than rules. A student having a hard week needs something they can actually reach for.
Empathy interviews
What we heard
Alongside the published research, we conducted empathy interviews with three people who see this issue closely. Their observations supported both the problem we identified and the solution we designed.
A parent
Of a primary-school student, on what conflict looks like from home.
A senior teacher
With extensive classroom experience across year levels.
A junior teacher
Early in their career, working closely with upper primary students.
Key findings from the interviews
Communication and understanding are important in resolving conflict.
Students in Years 3–6 can experience conflicts caused by miscommunication and difficulty understanding other perspectives.
Students may react out of anger because they are unsure how to manage their emotions.
Students can benefit from practising emotional-management strategies rather than only being told about them.
Interactive activities can help students develop practical strategies.
Students need to learn to recognise signs that emotions are escalating.
Students can benefit from strategies such as calming techniques, “I” statements, active listening and realistic conflict scenarios.
Students need to learn that regulating emotions can come before attempting to solve a conflict.
These are qualitative findings summarised from three interviews — a parent, a senior teacher and a junior teacher. They informed the design of the workshop. They reflect three perspectives, not statistically representative data.
References
Sources used in developing Mind Matters.
Sources are listed in the form used throughout this site. Where a figure appears on a statistic card above, the same source is linked there.
Sources on emotional resilience
- Suicide Prevention Queensland Mental Health and Resilience.
- Emotion Regulation Clinic, Floreat WA — on the factors that affect a person's emotional regulation.
- What's Happened to Emotional Resilience? (2022).
- The Children's Society (2022) The Good Childhood Report 2022. childrenssociety.org.uk
- Brenner, B. and Segal et al. (2018) — on emotional patterns, empathy, emotional control and stress management.
Australian evidence on primary-aged students
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Australia's children — Bullying (reporting TIMSS 2015 data). aihw.gov.au
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2015) The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents, Australian Government Department of Health. health.gov.au
- ACARA Personal and Social Capability, Australian Curriculum Version 9. australiancurriculum.edu.au
- Australian Government Department of Education Australian Student Wellbeing Framework. education.gov.au
- Durlak, J. A. et al. (2011) ‘The Impact of Enhancing Students' Social and Emotional Learning', Child Development, 82(1), 405–432. onlinelibrary.wiley.com
If you'd like to discuss the evidence base behind the workshop, get in touch — we're happy to share what informed it.
Where it fits
Aligned with what schools are already asked to teach.
These skills aren't an add-on to the Australian curriculum — they're already named in it.
The Personal and Social Capability (Version 9) is built on four elements: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and social management. Emotional regulation sits under self-management. Empathy sits under social awareness.
The Australian Student Wellbeing Framework, endorsed by education ministers, likewise positions student wellbeing and positive relationships as central to learning, through its five elements of leadership, inclusion, student voice, partnerships and support.
Sources: ACARA — Personal and Social Capability (V9); Australian Government Department of Education — Australian Student Wellbeing Framework.
What Mind Matters is — and isn't
It is: an educational, skill-building workshop that gives students practical tools to recognise, regulate, communicate and resolve.
It isn't: a counselling service, a diagnostic tool, a clinical mental health intervention, or a guarantee that conflict or bullying will stop.
We use research to explain why these skills matter. We don't use it to claim outcomes the workshop can't promise.
The skills don't stop at the school gate.
A student who can notice frustration, take a moment and say what they need has a tool for life — high school, a first job, friendships, their own family one day. Teaching it at ten is early. That's the point.
Book a workshop
Start building these skills with your students.
Designed for Year 3–6 · Approximately two hours · In person or online.