GROUP SCRIPT:

BIOLOGICAL

[Making a tea in the staffroom when others walk in]

B: Hey

A & C: Hi

B: Have you guys noticed that Kayla has become really withdrawn? I mean she still participates in the
team sports in PDHPE, but she doesn’t really connect with her peers?

A: Yes I have noticed.

B: I wonder if it has something to do with her physical development?

C: I have heard that sometimes early maturation effects girls differently to boys.

B: I’ll look into it because I want to help her.

NEXT DAY…

A: How did you go?

C & B: Look at all this – [holding piles of paperwork]

(slide with research)

Insert strategies here

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL

NEXT WEEK…

[Girls in staff room just cleaning up after lunch, and I walk in]

C: Hey girls!

A&B: hi

C: Kayla has been caught with drugs! How does this even happen?

A: Again?!

B: Could it be peer pressure? She is hanging around with those older students still? It’s because she
feels connected to them, because of her level of puberty.

C: I had to call her parents today, and they have very poor English by the way. They were very
worried. They asked me what they should do to help her? They did mention that they didn’t have
much money to help her. I told them I would look into it and get back to them. There is more going
on than simply misbehaviour.

NEXT DAY…

C: [holding piles of paperwork]

B: what did you find?

(slide with research)

Insert strategies here

COGNITIVE

NEXT WEEK…

[Walks into staff room with food or coffee]

A: Hey guys

B: hey

C: hello [eating food]

A: I just had Maths with Kayla. She is really struggling.

B: really?!

A: She called me over and said she forgets how to do what we did in Mondays’ class. She cannot
keep up with the other students. Why do you think this is? What should I do?

C: Perhaps she just needs additional help?

B: Perhaps she has too much other stuff going on? Cognitive overload?

A: I’ll look into it. I need to help her, she told me she really wants to do well in school, but isn’t.

NEXT DAY….

[Triumphantly walks into staffroom and throws down piles of research]

(slide with research)

Insert strategies here

STRATEGY SCRIPT:

INTRO SCENE (approx. 21sec)

[All walk into the staffroom from different directions triumphantly holding piles of research]

A: We definitely found some strategies to help Kayla [laughing at the piles of paperwork]

B: Well, I only concentrated on biological stuff, what did you guys concentrate on?

C: I looked into mental health how environments influence a persons’ wellbeing. There is actually a lot of
research done on mental health and the effects of a persons’ surroundings.

A: I looked into issues surrounding Kayla’s cognitive limitations. She can definitely be helped.

BIOLOGICAL 1 - SCENE 1 (approx. 30sec)

B: Firstly, I believe that her early maturation feeds into both, her social situation, and her educational issues. I
found that simply educating all students that there are varieties in human development, and how it is socially
constructed, can alleviate bullying and social isolation.

A: That’s really easy to implement. It will erase the concept of a social ‘norm’, which students think they need
to adhere to.

C: Except what about those students who are undergoing puberty at the time, it may draw more attention to
them.

B: Yes, well at least we have multiple strategies to comb through.

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL 1 – SCENE 2 (approx. 28sec)

C: well, what about Carol Dweck’s study on effort versus ability? By showing Kayla that effort is highly
regarded, it might encourage her to stop skipping classes, and participate in the classes she doesn’t fully
comprehend.

A: Yes, that would improve Kayla’s cognitive situation. By giving Kayla positive feedback on effort instead of
intelligence, she would encounter a growth mindset and improve gradually.

B: But what about if the students don’t care about their grades? Wouldn’t that only work in Kayla’s situation?

C: Yes I believe this is significant for Kayla. It would not work for all students.

COGNITIVE 1 – SCENE 3 (approx. 30sec)

A: In regards to the envelopment of all students’ learning, Kayla’s issues can be rectified by using the ‘on task’
theory supported by Vygotsky AND Piaget. It requires students to work with other students to reach the lesson
goal.

C: This would be great to get Kayla socialising with peers her own age.

B: Except, sometimes kids just end up talking about their weekend plans when you make them do group work?

A: But if the groups were organised into differentiated groups by the teacher, it would eliminate circles of
friends working together, and Kayla would be placed with higher achieving students to scaffold her learning.

B: That would work really well, actually.

BIOLOGICAL 2 – SCENE 4 (approx. 36sec)

B: Back to helping Kayla’s social situation – We could make online resources readily available for students to
browse in their own time? Students would be more likely to search for personal information, in their own
private time at home, right?

A: Of course! It’s the internet age! Students don’t ask their parents questions anymore, it’s vice versa. […] It’s a
good strategy because students can avoid feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

C: We would have to make sure that the resources are reliable. We would also need to educate students about
reliable and unreliable sources, in case they undertake their own research.

B: Oh yeah, there is nothing worse than self-diagnosing – google will tell them they are dying.

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL 2 – SCENE 5 (approx. 35sec)

C: Kayla doesn’t cope well on her own. She has multiple issues negatively impacting upon her mental health
because she has little resilience. Females typically cope by crying or being fatalistic, however Kayla doesn’t do
any of those things.

B: The website strategy would work well then. As it outlines strategies for people to build their resilience.

C: Well, it would also show Kayla that she isn’t alone in her experiences of early maturation.

A: But the question of her mental health would have to be visible, in order for teachers to recommend the
right websites?

B: I think pamphlets would work. But we would have to make sure Kayla gets the information.

COGNITIVE 2 – SCENE 6 (approx. 24sec)

A: Don’t you think we should involve Kayla’s parents? I found research that states parental involvement is
critical in their child’s cognitive and social success.

C: I have heard about workshops that parents can attend for that purpose. The child achieves higher
intelligence, language ability and social development.

B: [holds research up]. This is aimed at primary age students, but there is no reason we couldn’t approach Kayla’s
parents with it. They are very supportive.

BIOLOGICAL 3 – SCENE 7 (approx. 26sec)

B: What about applying the Mind Matters mental health framework to the entire school? It will promote a
holistic view of mental issues, and allow the school to follow their four key components which are:

1. Positive school community;

2. Student skills for resilience;
3. Parents and family support;
4. Support for students with mental health issues.

A: That would create an ideal atmosphere for acceptance and understanding.

C: It would be difficult to implement, without the support of the principal. It would need to be approved, it
also takes time, and planning to change school policies.
B: I suppose it would need to be more immediate, if we wanted to help Kayla.

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL 3 – SCENE 8 (approx. 28sec)

C: This research says that connectedness with school is proven to stop risky behaviours. Placing Kayla on a
representative school sporting team may stop her from being influenced by those older students.

A: That would be good for Kayla, and the school – she is a very good sportsperson.

B: It may backfire if she loses though. We know she used to like Maths and Science, but doesn’t anymore
because she struggles with it.

C: A negative and positive issue with this strategy is that she will be in a team environment with her peers. It
will encourage her to be social, but also it will place her in the group of people that may be bullying her.

THE END