Greetings all,
I am the President of Lions Against Violence Adelaide club branch and the ALDAF representative for this district.
I wish state the vision and mission statement for LAVA.
Vision: Working towards a community free of domestic and family violence
Mission: To develop and implement a community wide approach to help prevent domestic and family violence by raising awareness, educating the community, supporting, and empowering
people who have experienced violence
We do this in 2 main ways. Firstly, we support those who are enduring immediate or recent experiences in Violence. Secondly, and this is where the quest program is paramount, we support and train Teachers in a positive behavioural program to change cultures within our society which perpetuate violence.
When I did hear about it and asked various people, the most common comments were that it was a Drug and Alcohol program, or “we supported years ago” …. wrong on so many levels.
So, what is the Quest Program?
It is a program supported by ALDAF covering so much more than education in drugs and alcohol.
It is an internationally accredited Social and Emotional Learning Program which has a strong evidence base. That means that evaluations in terms of outcomes have been reliably and quantifiably measured.
It is a sequential learning with 36 lessons at each of the 9-year levels, broken into 2 groups. The first, Skills for Growing (reception to year 5) and the second, Skills for Adolescence (year 6 to 8/9).
It is mapped to the Australian Curriculum with explicit lessons to develop positive personal and social capabilities. So, YES people will say “but we already do this”. What we provide is a structured fully resourced progressive activity-based lessons.
This means we are not asking teachers to do more in their already busy teaching day. In fact it will SAVE research and lesson planning time!
It deals with behaviour management including:
- Anger management
- Anti-bullying
- Interacting with family and community
- Health and emotional safety
- Motivational goal setting
- Respectful relationships
- Respect for self, other people, and property
- Responsible decision making
- Values
Every lesson has ideas and activities for discovering, connecting, practising, and applying skills. There are family and community activities engaging students with their immediate and extended environment. It offers encouragement for students to reflect on positive as opposed to negative behaviours. Each unit has assessment with reinforcement and enrichment.
SO HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Simply by supporting and paying for teacher training. If you put your hand up to Support and Pay for teacher training, we will contact the school and do the leg work for you. If you are in SA we will come and talk to your club and your schools. We are hopeful of running a training programme in Adelaide on 26th March.
GOAL – As a minimum! One teacher in every school in your club area is trained by June this year.
Finally, in my role as a Special Justice in the Criminal division of the Adelaide Magistrate Court, I have sadly witnessed many of the outcomes of Family and Domestic violence.
So please, help us in this time when violence has increased significantly.
Yours sincerely
PDG Paddy McKay