Phases of Learning
The Rock and Water program is a social skills program based around physical exercises and reflection that promotes self-control, self-reflection and self-confidence. Rock and Water is taught by a trained specialist teacher from Pre-Primary to Year 6.
Through interactive games and exercises, the students learn about body language, empathy, cooperation, resilience, how to deal with conflict situations and bullying. The lessons teach students how to ground, centre and focus in order to calm themselves down in order to deal with uncomfortable situations and to increase confidence.
Students will be confronted with numerous different and difficult situations throughout their lives and the Rock and Water program aims to equip them with the skills and strategies they can apply to any scenario. Children learn that some circumstances call for a Rock approach, where assertiveness and strength of character is required. Other situations may call for a Water approach, being a more flexible way of dealing with a situation, where things can be calmly diffused allowing all parties to simply move on.
Through discussion, movement tasks based around simple self-defence, boundary and communication exercises, as well as meditation, students will begin to form a deeper sense of self, allowing them greater regulation and control over their lives. Topics in the program cover intuition, body language, mental strength, empathic feeling, positive feeling, positive thinking, positive visualisation, as well as assertiveness and developing self-confidence.
Research ‘Bringing it Together, 22 Cases of Rock and Water in Various Settings (2006)’, shows that through the Rock and Water program students gain in self-confidence, develop better social skills, while bullying in schools is less common or disappears altogether, and academic results improve.
Expression of interest
