‘Big Talks for Little People’ in Out of School Hours Care(OSHC)

Millions of children worldwide spend time in Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) or Extended Education (EE) services under the supervision and care of educators. Out-of-School Hours Care (OSHC) is the fastest-growing part of the childcare sector in Australia. OSHC services operate before and after school and during school holidays. They provide safe and supportive spaces where children can take part in activities such as art, homework support, play, and social interaction. However, few programs focus specifically on children’s mental health in OSHC settings. The wide variation in how OSHC programs are designed and delivered has limited clear research evidence about their impact on children’s mental health and wellbeing.

The ‘Big Talks for Little People < https://bigtalkslittlepeople.com/> has developed a  variation of the school program that can be delivered in OSHC settings digitally. Drawing on   a social and emotional learning (SEL)  framework  and co-designed with OSHC educators  6 short sessions were developed  designed to help children learn how to understand their feelings, manage their emotions, care about others, communicate well, solve problems, and build healthy relationships. Additionally, the program provides on-line professional development for educators and support sheets on topics such as child anxiety and bullying. Short 30 second animations were developed  and embedded in each session depicting issues that children face in everyday  school settings eg making friends, solving conflicts.

The first  2022 trial of the Big Talks for Little People OSHC program in South Australian Adelaide metropolitan centres showed that students attending OSHC had lower self-reported measures of wellbeing than the comparative primary school group, were unhappier and had less friends at school and reported being bullied more. The educators with the least OSHC experience reported feeling less competent at recognising and helping children experiencing mental health problems.  This result indicated the urgent need for further OSHC educator professional development in mental health education. The ‘Big Talks for Little People OSHC program was  modified in terms of the content and flexible delivery of the sessions and assessed in a range of OSHC centres across metropolitan and regional South Australia. Importantly, the results of quantitative data from a pre-and post-intervention child questionnaire showed improvements in children’s happiness and well-being at school and OSHC. Children also reported having more good friends at school and OSHC and feeling safer in both environments. In addition, experiences of bullying at school and OSHC decreased. Qualitative data was collected from interviews  with educators and focus groups of OSHC children.  These findings indicated that the sessions and particularly the animations were appreciated for  encouraging conversations about mental health issues of concern for children.

For further information about these OSHC program contact Dr Yu Takizama Yu.Takizama@flinders.edu.au or visit the Big Talks for Little People website < https://bigtalkslittlepeople.com/>