"We have been focusing on emotional regulation with our Year One children. We thought this tied in perfectly. The children had a ball. The incursion was interactive and hands on. The presenter, Fiona was extremely approachable and the kids loved her. All the children walked away with a better understanding of their emotions (their brain house) and how to calm themselves. We would 100% would use Strength Heroes again. The children got a lot out of this incursion and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The benefits for the class include having the children identify how they are feeling and what they can do to differently to assist them. Especially for two of my children that have had difficulties recognising and identifying their emotions. The BAT technique has assisted them multiple times since the incursion and it’s been a great resource for myself to use with them."

“We engaged in your incursion as we have a group of year ones with various needs to develop resilience, self regulation and anxiety. Your presentation was engaging, age appropriate and hands on - just what they needed!!! We have transferred the learning back into the classroom - BAT, releasing anger and frustration with our bodies, thinking about the brain and how to get our feelings from the bottom of the brain to the top. The parents were interested too and we had a lot of positive feedback about mental health and well-being. We would love to have you again!!”

“The Strength Heroes incursions were such an engaging and powerful incursion last year, we had to try a different one this year. The students were highly excited and challenged working with the clay but clearly explained the messages/purpose of their amazing creations. The students learnt and remembered so much more of the messages from the arts/play based incursion rather than being spoken at. The incursion was fabulous for students but also helpful for teachers, to use the same language and messages when challenging emotions/feeling arise.”

“The Leadership topic was perfect for preparing our Year 5 students who are preparing applications and speeches to be leaders in our school next year. All students were engaged and particularly enjoyed the activity where they worked as a team to make a leadership animal. We would definitely! use Strength Heroes again. The leadership topic was exactly what we were after. Fiona was engaging and interacted beautifully with the students. She gave them essential tips given to students on what a good leader is and how to be prepared for their speeches if they are nervous etc.”

“I would tell them that it was so good that our class should have an excursion at that place!”

"From weeks 3-6 of Term 4, the Year 5's were fortunate to have Fiona Perrella take them through an Achieving with a Team Leadership course. Each Friday they adopted a hands-on approach to learning leadership and teamwork skills in preparation for Year 6. They did teamwork challenges, reflected on their attempt, they openly discussed how their team communicated, allocated roles and ensured ideas where listened to. They set SMART goals in preparation for their next attempt and noted things that were done well and were to be done differently next time. Through whole class discussion they identified the good leaders and realised they could all lead by example next year without having a badge or title. Each group felt it was a valuable experience they will never forget"

“Fiona has worked in partnership with our school for the past 6 months. She used her experience and expertise in the area of positive psychology to work in collaboration with us in designing recognising our needs and designing a solution. Fiona demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills, firstly when working with the school leaders to establish a best-fit program for our school, and then with both parents and staff for whom she ran workshops as part of the program. Our feedback from both parents and staff was hugely positive, with numerous positive comments about the approachable, informative manner of Fiona. Based on the work that Fiona has done with our community, I highly rate her knowledge in the area of positive psychology as well as her ability to put her messages across in a meaningful and relevant way, adapting her sessions to suit the audience. We hope to continue to work with Fiona, based on the positive impact her work has had on our community.

Professional Development - Growth Mindset “I definitely feel that teachers are more aware of sharing their own mistakes with students and encouraging students to have a go despite the chance of making a mistake. It is great to hear that parents have noted a change. “

"We have been focusing on emotional regulation with our Year One children. We thought this tied in perfectly. The children had a ball. The incursion was interactive and hands on. The presenter, Fiona was extremely approachable and the kids loved her. All the children walked away with a better understanding of their emotions (their brain house) and how to calm themselves. We would 100% would use Strength Heroes again. The children got a lot out of this incursion and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The benefits for the class include having the children identify how they are feeling and what they can do to differently to assist them. Especially for two of my children that have had difficulties recognising and identifying their emotions. The BAT technique has assisted them multiple times since the incursion and it’s been a great resource for myself to use with them."

The interactive “art and play” based nature of the Strength Heroes incursions was the major draw card that prompted our school to engage in these wonderful workshops for all our students from Kindy to Year 6. As part of our Wellbeing Week celebrations in 2021 we wanted the students to engage in activities that aligned with our school values, mental health strategies and programs such as the Zones of Regulation. We were able to select from a broad range of workshop topics to directly match the needs of various year levels. “I’m a Mistake Maker” engaged our junior students in a range of art and construction tasks to help them explore how we all make mistakes and ways we can better respond and learn from them. The loose parts construction in the “Brain House” workshop was a hit with our middle and upper students as they further developed the concept of a growth mindset. The Year 6 teachers were very impressed with how engaged their students were with the with the art and play elements of the workshop and how the learning prompted discussions in class about the concepts for days after the incursion. “Everyone is a Leader” was a perfect fit for our Year 5 cohort as they were beginning the application process for leadership positions in Year 6. The team activities and construction of a “leadership animal” task provided the students with a thorough understanding of leadership principles like collaboration. We now plan to engage Strength Heroes again to provide this leadership workshop for our future Year 5 cohorts. Thank you for providing our students with such fun and valuable activities that related so well to our emotional regulation program. We greatly appreciated your professionalism. Your keen interest in receiving and responding to feedback demonstrated your passion for ensuring that you were providing the best possible experience for our students.

“We were increasingly aware of the specific needs of today’s teens particularly due to the influence of social media. Feedback from the staff had identified increasing concerns regarding the girls in year 9 cohort and their self image and self talk. The majority of the students were engaged and genuinely interested in the content. Fiona was approachable and relatable. The content discussed was pitched at the needs of the students. The topics were approached in a space that felt safe and this was an important feature. The majority of girls found experience a positive one. It was a good starting point for ongoing education and discussion with our girls. The primary benefit would be an increased awareness that they are not alone in what they are experiencing and in knowing that what they see online is not a true representation. It also gave them skills in recognising things such as bias in their own thoughts.”

We were looking for an incursion that linked with the wellbeing message behind R U OK Day. We wanted students to understand what it means to be resilient and how they can develop a growth mindset. Learning this through art was the perfect fit for our school. Students were all happy and engaged. It provided an opportunity for creativity and expression and conversation around mental wellbeing. We would absolutely use Strength Heroes again! Fiona was very professional and well organised. The session was enjoyable for students and informative for staff.”

We recently had Fiona deliver a school holiday activity for families with children aged 5 to 8 years. Parents and children completed the activities separately. Fiona provided stimulating information and activities for the children as well as the parents. Fiona demonstrated a range of emotional regulation strategies and ways of helping children manage their emotions. Parents and children all spoke very highly of the experience, the parents loved making clay pots and all said they had learned so much.

The benefits for our students were learning to work in a group and understanding what leadership look like - leadership in action. Students got to experience what works well and what doesn't in small groups. It gives students a chance to shine where they may struggle academically or sporting wise.

“The benefit of the incursion was that we could relate it to our wellbeing and 5 fingers of trust and also allowed students to open up to the experiences that were having.”

"The students loved the construction aspect of the incursion and were highly engaged. I think the groups having to identify the five leadership qualities were absolutely key. The mat session was excellent and hit all key points we were after. Thank you! Everyone is a Leader incursion, Year 5

We booked Strength Heroes because we are finding more and more students are presenting with anxiety and are less able to cope with failure. They have few strategies to overcome mistakes made. The kids experience of the incursion was next level. I did not think that they would achieve the wonderful results that they did – time simply flew by! The students were proud of their achievements. We would certainly use Strength Heroes again. It is a competitive world out there and we need to assist our students in dealing with life’s disappointments. The ‘Bat’ analogy is great! We have been given a wonderful way to help us learn how to cope with mistakes we make. We will constantly review Breathe, Admit and Think – the simplicity of it makes it accessible to all. Having a tangible Strength Hero character, (created by our very own selves) to remind us that it is ok to make a mistake will be treasured by many. Best bit, there were no issues at all….a very well run, seamless incursion delivered to 120 children! Thank you!