The Schools Improvement Initiative (SII) is one of the university’s key strategic initiatives. The Initiative draws on the university’s broader resources to support the Western Cape Education Department in improving the quality of education in this province. The SII’s operational model is based on the development of strong university-school-community partnerships for the purpose of whole-school improvement.
The SII works with its eight partner schools to strengthen and extend their capacity at the level of leadership, management and classroom-based teaching. We collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to harness efforts towards improving the whole school. This includes lobbying, advocacy and research. While the SII offers a critical perspective of the complex, systemic and structural issues that confront the SA education system, the Initiative focuses closely on social responsiveness – and the importance of building robust, enduring partnerships with the broader community.
SDU/SII PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT YOUTUBE VIDEOS FOR LEARNERS:
- Mental health and psychosocial support for adolescents:
Video 1: Introducing the concept of mental health and psychosocial support, with reference to trauma, depression and anxiety.
Video 2: This video highlights what depression and anxiety often look like and what tools can be adopted on a daily basis to address these feelings.
- Mental health for young children:
Video 1: An age-appropriate interactive conversation that introduces mental health to young children of primary school age. The video explains how mental health is often linked to different types of everyday feelings.
Video 2: An age-appropriate interactive conversation about how the ways we often feel impact our mental health (makes us feel good or not so good). The video normalizes these feelings and further explains what a child can do when some of these feelings make them feel really sad or hurt.