Seasons for Growth Children and Young People’s Program:
Level 2 Participant Journal
Seasons for Growth is an innovative, evidence-based change, loss and grief education program that draws on the metaphor of the seasons to understand the experience of grief. It builds the knowledge and skills necessary to strengthen social and emotional wellbeing following significant loss by:
• Exploring the impact of change and loss
• Learning about effective ways to respond and adapt
Participants learn that they are not alone in their experience of change, loss and grief, and are able to build their communication, decision making and problem solving skills within the context of a safe and supportive peer group learning environment.
Launched in 1996, over 300,000 children, young people and adults have participated in Seasons for Growth programs in Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales. The Seasons for Growth suite of programs offered by MacKillop Family Services / the MacKillop Institute. Find out more here: https://www.mackillop.org.au/institute/good-grief.
This is the Seasons for Growth Journal for participants following the Level 2 program (children aged 9-10 years approx.). There are also Levels 1,3 and 4 of the program collectively supporting children and young people aged 6-18 years. The colourful participant journals complement the program sessions and support children and young people to record and recall their learning. The Seasons for Growth program must be delivered by trained facilitators (called Companions). Trained Companions can order journals for their groups via the Companion portal on the Good Grief website.
Anne Graham is the founding author of the Seasons for Growth suite of programs. Supporting children and young people to adapt to change, loss and grief is a key research focus of Southern Cross University's Centre for Children and Young People. For more on this area of work see: https://www.scu.edu.au/centre-for-children-and-young-people/our-research/seasons-for-growth/.