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The School For Living

Resilience organisation providing highly engaging contemporary
resilience & wellbeing programs using active literature and play.

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About Us

The School For Living delivers highly engaging evidence-based programs to develop resilience through active play and literature. We use strength based approaches to spark curiosity, nurture creativity, build capacity and cultivate positive action to challenges in life.
Our programs are individually designed by Dr Sarah Tillott and specifically aimed to deliver evidence-based resilience resources to young people as an early intervention and prevention model to help them navigate adversity, promote positive coping strategies and improve mental wellbeing.

Who Do We Exist?

Our vision is to empower young people to see every moment as an opportunity to ignite their potential. Our mission is to build resilience and social emotional wellbeing in young people using strength-based approaches.

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What Makes Us Different?

Our programs can be delivered in-person, digitally or using a hybrid approach. This enables all young people to have access to the program regardless of their social, financial or geographical status. Our hybrid model also allows us to connect with mentors, coaches, teachers and parents to promote the mental wellbeing and health across the different stakeholder groups. We prioritise connection and sustainability to offer equal and affordable access to all and ensure there is uplift in understanding and capability across the entire community.

What is Resilience?

Resilience is our ability to cope, adapt and thrive when we face or encounter adversity. Resilience isn’t necessarily something we automatically have, but rather it’s developed though our life experiences. We will encounter many obstacles and challenges throughout our lives and it’s in these challenging moments that we have the opportunity to develop and strengthen our levels of resilience.

The Science Behind Resilience

Dr Sarah Tillott is a mother, a researcher, a teacher, and has university qualifications in the areas of health and education completing her PhD on building resilience in children. With 10 years of teaching at university, Sarah has built the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) Academic Resilience Framework, and has been a recipient of several international awards. The SFL foundation programme, Dusty and Friends has been subjected to the rigour of a PhD analysis, with outcomes showing resilience-based behaviour change (Tillott, PhD2019). The PhD was evaluated by two independent specialists in this field, both with a background in psychology and education and awarded a high commendation from the international assessors (Professor of Childhood Psychology and Education).

Dusty & Friends

Dusty & Friends series is an evidence based, PhD tested program that has been purposefully designed to empower children aged 4-8 years with the early intervention resilience-based strategies to face and overcome adversities through the use of storytelling.

The Dusty and Friends program has been favourably evaluated by Beyond Blue and measured through the rigour of PhD. It was nominated as a program of excellence by an international academic with a background in Education and Psychology for its impact on children as a foundation of teaching resilience.

Dusty & Friends comes complete with all the resources required to run the program saving you time and energy.

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Recent News Posts

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Emotional Regulation Builds Resilience

Emerging literature in the resilience research has a particular focus on encouraging children to adopt strategies that facilitate emotional regulation.
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Teaching Children How To Deal With Emotion

At School For Living we provide children with the confidence and skills they need to handle complex emotional situations. 
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Welcome To The School For Living!

Welcome to School For Livings new website! We are really excited to launch our new website with a new branding focus.
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Keep Up With The School For Living

Register with the School For Living today and receive exclusive information on our programs and early notifications to our workshops.