From the Assistant Head of Senior School – Pastoral Care and Wellbeing

Social and Emotional Competency: Social Awareness

MLC School has always been a place where social and emotional learning has been put into action by challenging the girls to step out of their comfort zone and try something new. Whether it is within the School grounds, in a co-curricular activity, on excursions, on camps, Duke of Edinburgh experiences or immersions, we have prided ourselves on the development of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) social and emotional competency, Social Awareness by putting the theory into action.

CASEL define social awareness as the ability to understand the perspectives of and empathise with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behaviour in different settings, and recognise family, school, and community resources and supports.

As we reach the end of the term and fatigue sets in, social awareness with regards to being compassionate for others by listening to and taking on others’ perspectives, recognising strengths in others and showing concern for the feelings of others is critically important. For the remainder of the term I would like to challenge our girls to live out our value of compassion and act on the above things. I would also like to see them be courageous and reach out for support by recognising that the support of their family, friends and school is an essential component of their development as a person as well as developing their social awareness skills. 

In addition to being socially aware and compassionate at school, next week I am taking a team of staff and students from Year 10 to Year 12 away on a Red Earth Indigenous Immersion. We are heading to Cape York to live and learn from Indigenous Australians who are living on their homelands. It is an opportunity for all of us to deepen our understanding of the perspectives of others, with respect to those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. I am immensely grateful for this opportunity to put social and emotional learning into action and I look forward to sharing how our girls demonstrate their growth in resilience, empathy and compassion from this experience and others throughout the years to come.

– Sarah Tynan
Assistant Head of Senior School – Pastoral Care and Wellbeing