The Languages of Apology

Posted: 22/01/2025

Have you ever said sorry to someone, and yet you know they have not experienced your apology as authentic? Somehow your sincere apology did not land. This may be more likely to happen when the offence is perceived as a grave one. But it …Read more

Can Bears and Meerkats be Friends?

Posted: 10/05/2022

Maybe not in the wilds of nature, but in the wild world of our feelings many unexpected things can go together. Look inside on any typical day and you may notice a swirling mix of emotions and body signals. The limitations of language mean …Read more

A Gathering of HIPPYs

Posted: 31/10/2019

It can be tempting to think that education begins when kids go to school, but in fact it is through play at home in the early years that the very foundations of life-long learning are laid. This is one of the foundations of the …Read more

The Power of Vulnerability and Trust in the Classroom

Posted: 25/07/2019

Lillian Daley, a Grade 6 teacher in Darwin—the capital city of Australia’s Northern Territory—writes about the power of vulnerability and trust in the classroom. I first came across Innovative Resources when I was a pre-service teacher completing a placement at a school for disengaged …Read more

Directing Traffic in Schools

Posted: 22/07/2019

Thinking of ourselves as a car can be a very useful thing to do. Clean and green with zero emissions, of course. Or maybe not. Depends on the fuel you are putting in your tank, the junk in the trunk, the road you take …Read more

What is Social & Emotional Literacy?

Posted: 13/05/2019

You could say that social and emotional literacy is the heroic journey from the amygdala to the frontal lobe. A very short distance when measured in terms of the physical brain but a life-long journey in terms of developing impulse control, building respectful relationships, …Read more

Furious! Helping Children Manage Anger

Posted: 22/11/2018

You’ve probably heard of fight, flight or freeze—the brain’s primal response to threat that floods our system with a cocktail of chemicals to help us react and keep safe. More recently ‘flop’ and ‘be-friend’ have been added to this list. Now, that’s a tidy …Read more

Body Signals®—Signposts for Feelings

Posted: 26/10/2018

Our body signals are the gateway to recognising, interpreting and managing our feelings. That is why Body Intelligence (BQ) is such a fundamental aspect of developing Emotional Intelligence (EQ). There are times when each of us, no matter how skilled we may be, has …Read more

Body Signals®: Wisdom from Within

Posted: 26/09/2018

Our body communicates its wisdom to us long before our conscious mind can get a word in.  That’s why body signals are sometimes called our ‘early warning signs’, and they are an important key to staying safe, and building social and emotional wellbeing. How …Read more

What’s different about the new edition of Reflexions?

Posted: 09/04/2018

If you are a youth worker, counsellor, mentor, teacher, chaplain or welfare coordinator in a school, chances are you’ve come across the Reflexions cards somewhere along the line. You may even have a set kicking around in your tool bag of resources. A new …Read more

Reflexions – a Tool for Young People

Posted: 24/05/2017

‘The value of Reflexions is found in its ability to build … conversations in new and existing directions.’(Reflexions booklet, p8) Innovative Resources’ cards can act as ‘conversational prompts’. That is, when used in conversations with other people, they can suggest pathways of communication that …Read more

Wellbeing in Schools

Posted: 31/03/2017

In March I had great pleasure in attending the inaugural Wellbeing Australia conference in Cairns. What made it special was the inspiration and passion shown by so many teachers and wellbeing officers towards the children—and extending further to the parents and the broader school …Read more

Building Strengths Cultures and Strengths Literacy

Posted: 31/03/2017

‘Everyone benefits in cultures where their strengths are appreciated and noticed. Children, in particular, blossom when they are held in positive regard by the people around them.’  We are surrounded by many different cultures—not only the obvious cultural differences between countries and peoples—but also …Read more

Respectful Relationships – what makes them tick?

Posted: 01/09/2016

Most of us depend on our friends and loved ones for lots of things. Happiness is just one thing that goes hand-in-hand with healthy relationships. But while relationships are arguably the most important part of our lives, it’s easy to take them for granted. …Read more

Kids’ Skills: Converting problems into skills

Posted: 01/09/2016

According to the Kids’ Skills method, issues confronting a child are best resolved by having the child learn a specific skill. This idea is based on the observation that when a child is faced with a problem, it is often due to the fact that there is some skill …Read more

Strengths – reminders of the positives in ourselves and others

Posted: 15/06/2015

My daughter laughed when I bought my Strength Cards. She said, ‘You’ve always wanted your own, haven’t you?’ She had been using the Strength Cards in a therapeutic setting. My other daughter could tell me the pictures on some of the cards because her teacher had the Strength Cards at …Read more