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Unit of Study WELF5002 - Supporting Students in Difficult Times (2025)

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Unit Snapshot

  • Enrolment information

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Unit description

Provides 'front line' professionals with the knowledge and skills required to effectively support children and young people who are experiencing personal difficulties and require social and/or emotional support. Emphasis is placed on recognising when such support is needed and why, identifying when and how to respond and refer to other support services, such as counselling.

Unit content

Recognising why and when students need socio-emotional support – Perspectives on socio-emotional problems and issues – Causes of emotional distress for students (issues such as friendship issues, family dynamics, abuse, loss and grief, bullying, suicide) – Contexts for understanding students’ emotional concerns – Theories of attachment, trauma and resilience. 

Responding to students’  social and emotional needs in difficult times – Sources of support for students – The relational context for responding – The role of teachers and other relevant professionals – Skills for effectively responding – The importance of reflective practice for teachers.

Referring students for support – Differentiating between social support, emotional support, mental health and child protection issues – Overview of relevant services and service models – Responding to disclosures of concern – Referring children and families to specialised services – Critical issues in referral. 

Availabilities

Location Domestic International
SCU Online
Summer Term
Term4
Summer Term
Term4

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

recognise when and why students might need socio-emotional support.

describe the role of teachers and other education staff in providing appropriate socio-emotional support for students.

demonstrate appropriate skills in responding to students experiencing difficulties, crisis or distress.

identify which external services students may need to be referred to and how such referrals might be sensitively approached.

critically evaluate their own professional practice when engaging with students requiring socio-emotional support.

Prescribed learning resources

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Prescribed Learning Resources may change in future Teaching Periods.