Question 1

What data is collected about my child?

Accepted Answer

We only retain student’s name and email address for the purpose of managing their account access. The check in process asks students how tired they are, and how emotionally they are feeling. This information is only available to authorised teachers at an individual level, and the individual themselves if the feature has been enabled.

Question 2

What are switches?

Accepted Answer

Switches are activities that assist with the process of “switching” out of a reactive emotive state into a more conscious thinking state.

Question 3

What does the program do?

Accepted Answer

It is a program facilitated by teachers to support their students to build social and emotional skills in a practical and fun way.  Students are asked to “check in” to self report on how they are feeling, and can access “switches” to learn strategies for managing their emotions more effectively.

Question 4

I’m worried about internet safety, is Switch4Schools secure?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We take data privacy seriously and follow strict protocols to safeguard it. We have implemented robust measures to protect information from unauthorised access, use, and disclosure. These measures include encryption, data access controls, and regular security assessments.

Further to this, we collect only necessary information and ensure it is used solely for the intended purposes, such as creating an account. We do not share personally identifiable information without a legal court order or subpoena requiring us to do so, and even then, it would only be for the very specific data requested. We are completely committed to maintaining confidentiality and data security. We will only disclose information when legally obligated to do so.

Certain functions require personally identifiable information, such as an email address for the purpose of resetting a forgotten password, however, we at all times respect the importance of anonymity and students’ right to it. The app allows students to use de-identified details or pseudonyms to maintain their privacy if required.

At the end of each school year, all check in data is archived and will no longer be accessible by the school. We may provide historical check in data for specified individuals to the school upon request only. We retain and use aggregated check in responses for analytic purposes related to product improvement. All data generated is stored locally in your region.

If you have a security concern, please notify us immediately at support@switch4schools.com.au.(mailto:support@switch4schools.com.au)  We will take prompt action to address any issue and ensure students’ safety.

Question 5

Are there different levels of difficulty?

Accepted Answer

The Switch4Schools app offers four distinct complexity levels designed to meet the emotional maturity of students and align with the national Personal and Social Learning curriculum requirements for schools. These levels progressively introduce more complex language and activities while addressing key components of emotional intelligence.

Foundation: A gentle introduction suitable for younger students, focusing on foundational emotional intelligence concepts.

Proficient: Builds on the foundation level, introducing more sophisticated language and activities for deeper exploration.

Advanced: Offers complex language and activities for students ready for greater challenges in emotional intelligence.

Mastery: The highest complexity level, providing advanced language and activities for the most emotionally mature students.

The app aligns with the curriculum by covering self awareness, self management, social awareness, and relationship management. It includes lessons and activities promoting these skills, such as recognising and understanding emotions, self regulation, empathy, and effective communication. Educators and parents can select the appropriate complexity level based on students' emotional readiness and progress.

Question 6

Can I have my own account as a parent?

Accepted Answer

Not at this stage. However, you can have access to a limited version of the app. When you open the app, you can select Browse without login. This will grant you access to the switches and activities that students use in the classroom.

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Question 7

What ages is Switch4Schools suitable for?

Accepted Answer

The program is suitable for all students aged between 4 – 16 years old. Younger students do require more support from their teachers to familiarise with switches.

Question 8

Why should students use Switch4Schools?

Accepted Answer

In terms of the benefits for students using Switch4Schools there is evidence that increased emotional intelligence, including the ability to perceive and manage emotions, enables an increased awareness of themselves and empathy for others. This helps create a psychologically safe environment for students to learn and develop individual resilience to better deal with whatever is thrown at them during the day. 
 
The program is designed to improve emotional vocabulary, organised in a way that increases the student’s ability to conceptualise ideas such as ‘dialling’ emotion up and down (regulation), and improve communication.  Added with switching techniques, tips and tricks for managing the intensity of emotions, getting better sleep and building resilience the program equips students with the knowledge and skills needed to be emotionally intelligent. 
 
Not surprisingly, improved emotional intelligence and self regulatory behaviours result in better self control and focus which in turn improves both academic results and relationships.

Question 9

How do teachers use the Switch4Schools program?

Accepted Answer

Students are asked to self report their emotional state and energy level via a periodic “check-in” survey, which is aggregated for the teacher to determine if the class is in an emotional state that are ready to learn.  
 
The students are also encouraged to explore and practice switching techniques either individually or as a class, addressing both class behaviour management strategies and the national curriculum expectations related to delivering social and emotional learning (SEL).  There are around 100 switches and activities the can be used at the class or individual level to improve social and emotional capabilities (these can accessed by the general public by selecting “login” on the website, and the “browse without login” option). 
 
In addition, the longitudinal data compares individual students self-reported emotional data with level of tiredness to look for trends and opportunities to help.

Question 10

How is the data stored?

Accepted Answer

The check-in information shared by students is only shared between the students and whomever is identified as a teacher of the class. This is controlled by the teacher to empower the teacher-student trusted circle. The class data is then aggregated to de-identify the information to provide school administrators with high level usage data that is shared via a weekly report.  No data is shared outside of the school environment.  
 
Behind the scenes, the data is encrypted and stored on local servers within the territory compliant with strict web application security standards.

Question 11

How can the students access the switches at home?

Accepted Answer

Students (and caregivers) are able to log into the publicly available version at any stage  (refer to the “browse without login” option here:https://app.switch4schools.com.au/Login)(https://app.switch4schools.com.au/Login). Depending on the school’s approach for setting up and managing student accounts, students will also have the ability to login to their account using their username and password through this same link (or the iOS app from the AppStore).
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Question 12

How does Switch4Schools work for neurodivergent students?

Accepted Answer

One of the main struggles neurodiverse individuals experience is that the ‘rules of normality’ are traditionally learned via social cues - cues that are hard (or impossible) for neurodivergent kids to comprehend. The Switch4Schools program is specifically designed to teach emotional health in a way that is not dependent on social cues. It uses pattern matching and a linguistic framework that helps create conceptual pathways for learning. In this sense, it works for anyone, irrespective of their divergent thinking or perception styles.

Co-founded by an experienced psychologist and developed with a team of educational and developmental experts, Switch also works with reliable and validated wellbeing research partners such as ARACY,(https://www.aracy.org.au/) and with key partner schools to continue to grow the effectiveness of the platform.

Switch is designed to be inclusive which is reflective of the research - in particular the Mark Greenberg’s Fast Track Project (https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/the-fast-track-program-for-children-at-risk-by-karen-l-bierman-and-john-d-coie-and-kenneth-a-dodge-and-mark-t-greenberg-and-john-e-lochman-phd-abpp-and-robert-j-mcmahon-phd-and-ellen-e-pinderhughes-ph-9781462541294)done for the University of Washington, which showed improvements in academic scores, pro-social behaviour and self-reported happiness for all students, irrespective of cognitive diversity. Switch4Schools offers a practical and very systemic approach to building emotional health. It’s a framework that is based in patterns and linguistic associations that help build the neural pathways to succeed. At the very heart of this program is the removing of the dependence on subtle social cues from the building of emotional health.

This is reflected in the school results that show impact for all students irrespective of cognition or thinking styles. We have even seen significant positive results in special schools, where extreme neurodiversity is often comorbid with other severe physical and mental challenges.  We are witnessing improvements in behaviour, increased performance, and rise in self-reported student and teacher satisfaction in schools using Switch4Schools. Switch works because we are human.

Question 13

What is the science and history behind the Switch4Schools Emotion Wheel?

Accepted Answer

There is an immense amount of evidence supporting the development and use of Switch for schools. For a good summary that includes evidence supporting the use of a digital check-in, evidence supporting the use of emotional language to improve EI, evidence supporting the effectiveness of simple mind strategies and activities, and a reference list for further reading check out the attached pdf.

Ongoing Platform Enhancements

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