Frequently asked questions
Is social stencil a social skills program?
Social Stencil isn’t a traditional social skills program. Social Stencil doesn’t aim to train young people to learn a particular set of social skills considered ‘ideal’ or ‘most acceptable’.
Social Stencil is designed to build respect and understanding of one another, with the support of facilitators who model inclusive and encouraging language, while building the group’s shared understanding of complex emotions, friendship concepts, and skills that can help them manage conflict with others.
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What concepts will my child learn about?
Listening styles and ways to support connection and meaning
Explore the enormous range of emotions that humans can show and feel and intricacies and overlap between them
‘The Science of Anger’ -how anger happens in the body and what next?
Friendship concepts, styles and variations
Working in groups respectfully and effectively
Understanding why conflict happens
Strategies for managing real-life problems and conflicts with others
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Is Social Stencil sensitive to refugee/migrant populations, and individuals who have experienced trauma?
The program was written by Dr Connie Buckingham, the daughter of a refugee and child survivor of domestic violence. This lived experience has informed the pedagogy of Social Stencil, designed to be explored safely through discussions, interesting group challenges, group games and illustrated posters to communicate key messages.
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Is there an ideal age or grade recommended for delivery?
The lesson plans are most engaging and beneficial when delivered to young people from 8 to 15 years of age.
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Is Social Stencil Suitable for neurodivergent individuals?
Social Stencil is an inclusive program designed to build respectful relationships between all people, embracing differences and diversity while sharing underpinning concepts, strategies and ideas that might help those relationships along.
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Is this program suitable for children with an intellectual disability?
The Social Stencil program was initially designed to be delivered to a whole class with a Year 2 reading level or higher (Australian curriculum).
If delivered to young people with an intellectual disability, we recommend delivering the program individually or in small groups or pairs and making appropriate adjustments to each lesson plan.
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How does social stencil align with the australian curriculum?
The SIP model suggests that six interacting social information processing skills inform children’s social behaviour: encoding of cues; interpretation of cues; clarification of goals; response construction; response decision; and behavioural enactment. These skills are informed by a child’s database of social knowledge and prior experiences.
The Social Stencil program specifically focuses on the development of this database of social knowledge and experiences through its Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)-based content, directly complementing key themes embodied in current DET programs and Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority (VCAA) curriculums such as the Personal and Social Capability curriculum.
Social Stencil teaches skills that align with the Australian curriculum’s personal and social capability, as well as the health curriculum, identities and change, and interacting with others.
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Who can become a facilitator?
Educators, well-being staff, counsellors, and allied health clinicians (psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists) can all become trained facilitators to use this program in their work.
Parents are welcome to purchase the program to learn about the concepts and share them with their children; however, they should only deliver the program to groups with an educator or clinician qualification.
If parents are in a homeschooling role, they can share the program materials with their young person; however, some group activities will need to be modified, or you might need to include some friendly relatives or friends to help play along.
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What can I charge per group session if I run the program in my private practice?
Social Stencil aims to reach as many young people as possible, so we aim to be accessible and affordable. If you are running the program in your practice, we suggest that you charge your usual hourly rate to deliver the program to groups, accounting for your preparation and administration time.
Student resources available in the Social Stencil online shop are not necessary for delivering the program outlined in the Social Stencil training. While these resources can be helpful, they are optional and not essential.
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Can you deliver Social Stencil one-on-one, as well as in groups?
Absolutely! Counsellors, social workers, psychologists and well-being officers can use the Social Stencil concepts to add to their professional tool kit. You can deliver the program sequentially or use your professional judgement to decide which sessions to introduce to your clients or students based on their unique needs.
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Once I purchase the program, can I start running it immediately, or do I need to read it all or attend a workshop first?
You can absolutely start running the program straight away. We recommend reading the first chapter before starting to ensure you're comfortable with the program theory and delivery options. We recommend working through each session in full before delivering that session.
Becoming a Social Stencil facilitator can be achieved by either attending a one-day workshop or through the self-paced online portal; there is no requirement to attend both.
Is there a Social Stencil for early years, or a follow-up, extension program?
We are currently developing lesson plans for early years, and a sequel program too.
In the meantime, you can run Social Stencil in year 2 or 3, and then again a few years later in year 5 or 6 to revisit and explore a deeper understanding with a more mature lens.
How often should a lesson be delivered?
Ideally, the lessons are delivered over 12-18 weeks, for 50-60 minutes per week.
