The Children and Families Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Resource Collection

SEL and PSS Measurement and Assessment Tools in Education in Emergencies: Identifying, Analyzing, and Mapping Tools to Global Guidance Documents

This document covers programmatic measurement approaches, global measurement frameworks, assessment tools, and monitoring and results frameworks. It aims to map what constitutes quality and equitable education in emergencies and how it can be assessed at the program and individual learning levels. It also aims to inform on the linkages between measurement at the programme or national level and global measurement frameworks. It includes a set of profiles of measurement and assessment tools; a summary table for looking across measurement and assessment tools and guidance documents; and a set of profiles on programmatic approaches to SEL and PSS.

Coping with Changes: Social-Emotional Learning Through Play

Coping with Changes: Social-Emotional Learning Through Play is an online course on how to provide playful and engaging social emotional learning (SEL) support to children. It was developed due to the disruption in children's lives due to COVID-19 but can be used in any settings where children experience high levels of stress. Course participants explore the practical and emotional challenges children face and explore the concept of 'learning through play' and stress management strategies that can help. The course also considers the potential long term effects of crises on a child’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. This is an interactive course and at every step of the course, learners can meet other learners, share their ideas and join in active discussions in the comments. This course is primarily designed for primary caregivers and teachers of young people. The course is also revelant for culture and social workers, artists, and humanitarian workers. Examples of topics in the course are: - Foundations of Learning through Play  - Importance of MHPSS / SEL in Crisis  - Adult Wellbeing   - Age sensitive SEL knowledge and activities - Coping with Changes and Transitions

Safe Healing and Learning Spaces Toolkit

The SHLS Toolkit provides frontline humanitarian staff with practical implementation guidance, adaptable sample tools, comprehensive training materials, and scripted instructional content needed to initiate an SHLS in an emergency setting. Resources are provided for a 9-month program, and applicable in both rural and urban areas, based on locally-defined needs and priorities. The content is holistic, including tools for social-emotional learning, reading and math, and parenting support. Materials are open source, user-friendly and designed for managers and facilitators in the form of structured yet adaptable training and learning content. The tools are evidence-based and practitioner-tested, developed bythe IRC’s in-house technical experts, field tested with displaced communitiesand frontline staff in Nigeria, Chad and Iraq, and refined through feedbackfrom academic and peer reviewers.

Including Children with Disabilities in Humanitarian Settings

The Including Children with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action pack consists of six guidance booklets that aim to strengthen the inclusion of children and women with disabilities, and their families, in emergency preparedness, response and early recovery, and recovery and reconstruction. This series of booklets provides insight into the situation of children with disabilities in humanitarian contexts, highlights the ways in which they are excluded from humanitarian action, and offers practical actions and tips to better include children and adolescents with disabilities in all stages of humanitarian action. The booklets were created in response to UNICEF colleagues in the field expressing a need for a practical resource to guide their work. The information and recommendations are based on evidence and good practices gathered from literature and field staff experiences. The six booklets on how to include children and adolescents with disabilities in humanitarian programmes focus on: 1) general guidance; 2) child protection; 3) education; 4) health and HIV/AIDS; 5) nutrition; 6) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

Free Reader Application for Ukrainian-speaking Children

The Free Reader Application for Ukrainian-speaking Children free app features a diverse library of books for Ukrainian children, anywhere. It contains 75 books in Ukrainian (with more to come) that have been curated to be culturally relevant, age appropriate and nicely illustrated for the target audience. Most of this book collection is tailored to support social and emotional learning of children aged 4-10 (based on the CASEL framework) and thereby contribute to help them manage distress and trauma and improve their overall educational readiness and success, civic engagement and well-being.

Teacher's Guide to Psychosocial Support Activities for Students for the First Weeks of Students Return to Schools Following Long Breaks

The Teacher's Guide to Psychosocial Support Activities for Students has been designed for the first weeks of return to face-to-face education to support teachers’ efforts in promoting the psychosocial well-being of students as it provides interactive inclusive activities for children aged 6 - 16. The activities contribute to building positive relationships and attitudes, promoting students’ self-esteem, encouraging them to express their feelings, communicate their emotions and deepen their relationship with the school. Furthermore, these activities reduce the impact of potential emotional stress and behavioural problems and prompt students to seek help when needed in a safe school environment. The guide consists of two parts: the first part tackles the most important mental and social health concepts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have an impact on students' academic achievement, life skills, and communication with peers and society. These concepts include: psychosocial well-being, psychosocial support, positive discipline, referral, peer support, and inclusive education. The second part of the guide includes inclusive interactive activities, and some strategies that attempt at alleviating the effects of the psychological pressures that students were exposed to during the period of closure. The guide was developed specifically for teachers in Jordan, but can be used in all countries.

Let’s Talk About It: Check-in Guidance

Let’s Talk About It: Check-in Guidance provides instructions on how to facilitate a 90–120-minute check-in session with children aged six years and up when they arrive back at school or another activity space that was closed due to conflict or crisis. It is designed for use by adults – including classroom teachers – to help children settle back into a regular school routine. Space to discuss their fears and experiences of loss, displacement and other impacts among their peers and with the guidance of a trusted adult will help them to process their feelings and the effect the conflict or crisis is having on them. This guidance can also be used outside of a school context, i.e., in non-formal education settings, children’s clubs, child protection-led activities, livelihood activities, etc. The guide has three adaptations for different contexts: 1. Health emergencies including COVID-19 in English and Arabic 2. Armed conflict in Ukrainian, Russian, Hungarian, Romanian and Polish 3. Disaster and Earthquakes in Arabic

Nurturing the Spiritual Development of Children

The Nurturing the Spiritual Development of Children Toolkit is designed to help equip faith actors to engage actively in the protection of children from violence in early childhood and the promotion of children’s holistic well-being by supporting parents, caregivers, educators and communities to nurture children’s spiritual development and take an active role in addressing violence in early childhood. The Toolkit is tailored for organizations — faith-based organizations, religious communities, or other civil society organizations interested in the spiritual development of children — and is designed to complement holistic development approaches and to be integrated in existing parenting, education and/ or ECD programs. The Toolkit presents a Learning Program for Adults as well as Activities for Children. The Learning Program for Adults is designed for use with the following types of people: • Faith actors who work directly with families and children or in daycare centers, early learning settings, etc.; • Parents and caregivers of children up to 8 years; and • Educators and other community members involved in early childhood care and learning. The Toolkit is comprised of the Introduction & Rationale, 7 Booklets and a Flipbook, including a Learning Program for Adults, Activities for Children, Guides for Organizations, Trainers and Facilitators to support systematic implementation into already existing programs for early childhood and a Guide for Religious and Spiritual Leaders.

Promoting Wellbeing and Mental Health in Schools

The Promoting Wellbeing and Mental Health in Schools handbook is primarily for educators, to help them learn about mental health issues and better support them in educational environments. The Handbook aims to provide training to teachers, administrators, and people involved in the education of primary school children about the implementation of mental health literacy into daily school life. Such knowledge, skills and attitudes will equip all levels of educators with key tools to support student mental health, manage difficult classroom behavior, and promote students’ wellbeing and academic success.

Hopefully Healthy Happy Living Toolkit

Hopefully Healthy Happy Living Toolkit is a set of materials directed towards children, parents, caregivers and teachers in various settings, which promote psychosocial wellbeing and link with key life skills to strengthen social and emotional learning. The toolkit provides useful resources for families and school communities for current times in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also designed for broader reach too, being equally relevant to any kind of crisis or emergency in seeking to support the health, happiness and hopefulness of communities wherever they may be. There are three tools in this toolkit. They are: (1) the Guide for Teachers, (2) the Parent-Caregiver Guide and (3) the Activity Guide for Teachers, Parents and Children. 1. Guide for Teachers – This Guide has been designed for teachers supporting children in their return to school in the wake of the pandemic. It opens with a set of general group-building exercises, followed by themed activities focussing on 16 key life skills supporting the personal, cognitive and interpersonal development of children. The exercises are suitable for a wide range of different age groups from pre-school to secondary school. The exercises could also be combined with sports and leisure activities in clubs or community centres, and in safe spaces for children in humanitarian settings. 2. Parent-Caregiver Guide – This booklet has been developed for parents and caregivers and is designed to provide guidance and inspiration around psychosocial wellbeing in the household in the face of challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. It features six fictional families from different corners of the world who are facing challenges in their lives in the course of dealing with COVID-19. Positive messages to encourage parents and caregivers in the care of their children at this demanding time are given such as structuring the day, taking time to check in with one another, using positive discipline, talking about loss, dealing with stigma, and protecting children online. At the end of the guide, there is a useful checklist for the whole household to help everyone reflect on how they are doing as a family. There is also a set of prompts for families who wish to make a COVID-19 hero book. 3. Activity Guide – This Guide for Teachers, Parents and Children features fun activities for children at home, in school or for remote use. In a home learning environment, for example, the activities could be done with a sibling group. Each activity is flagged as best done with a group or whether it may be adapted for use with a single child. The activities have been carefully designed to engage with children in relation to social and emotional learning around self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and decision-making.

Magnificent Mei

The Magnificent Mei comics and an accompanying Teacher’s Guide were created to support social and emotional learning among adolescents. By promoting social and emotional learning and skills practice, the Comic Book and Teacher’s Guide aim to help promote psychosocial well-being, prevent mental health conditions, and reduce risky behaviours in adolescents. The Magnificent Mei and Friends Comic Book is for adolescents aged 10-14 years. Through a combination of images and text, the Comic intends to engage and shape students’ attitudes by promoting empathy and critical thinking. As a form of storytelling, the Comic presents real-life scenarios and situations young adolescents may face in their everyday lives. Seeing comparable experiences through fictional characters’ eyes can help validate the feelings of young people and let them know they are not alone. Combined with classroom-based activities and lessons, comics can be an effective tool to support students’ social and emotional learning.