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QKLG 2018

Wellbeing: Learning and development area

Important aspects of wellbeing include children’s physical and mental health, personal safety and successful social functioning. Wellbeing is linked with resilience, providing children with the ability to manage change and respond to challenges. A strong sense of wellbeing requires positive, supportive and trusting relationships, which build children’s confidence and optimism.

Learning about healthy lifestyles, the importance of nutritional food, rest, physical activity (including fine and gross motor skills) and personal hygiene, and developing an awareness of safety are essential for enhancing children’s sense of wellbeing.

Teachers use intentional teaching practices such as:

  • identifying and acknowledging children’s emotions
  • making connections between children’s actions and their emotions
  • modelling ways to recognise and express feelings
  • encouraging children to use modelled strategies to regulate their emotions
  • explaining and scaffolding problem-solving strategies to encourage children to manage challenging interactions
  • encouraging children to keep trying when faced with challenging experiences
  • reflecting on the use of relaxation strategies to manage emotions.
Significant learning
  • knowledge, skills and dispositions
 Emerging phase
  • In familiar situations
  • with explicit support
 Exploring phase
  • in familiar situations
  • with occasional support
 Extending phase
  • in new situations
  • with occasional prompting
Developing self-regulation
  • expressing feelings
  • copies words to express feelings
  • uses modelled strategies to convey feelings, e.g. points to a picture of a happy face
  • expresses feelings
  • describes their emotional response to a situation using learned phrases, e.g. growls and says ‘I am cross because it’s not my turn.’
  • independently expresses feelings appropriately
  • clearly articulates feelings in response to a situation, e.g. ‘I’m angry because it’s raining so we can’t play outside.’
  • regulating emotions
  • copies suggestions to regulate emotions
  • follows a suggestion to breathe deeply to be calm
  • uses modelled strategies to regulate emotions
  • with a reminder, uses a strategy such as stopping and having a drink of water to be calm
  • uses strategies to regulate emotions
  • independently uses strategies to be calm, e.g. deep breathing or moving to a quiet space
Developing resilience
  • managing change
  • handles changes in everyday situations, with reminders
  • adjusts to visitors entering the room by moving close to a trusted adult
  • uses simple strategies to manage unexpected situations and changes
  • seeks reassurance when new people come to kindergarten
  • uses strategies to manage unexpected situations and respond positively to changes
  • talks to replacement teacher about kindergarten routines
  • responding to challenges
  • uses guided strategies to respond to challenges
  • requires help from an adult when their block construction is knocked over
  • uses modelled strategies to respond to challenges
  • makes a ‘stop’ gesture to remind others not to come close to their block construction
  • applies strategies to manage challenges
  • copes with challenges independently, e.g. when someone knocks over their block construction, responds, ‘It’s okay.’

Teachers use intentional teaching practices such as:

Significant learning
  • knowledge, skills and dispositions
 Emerging phase
  • In familiar situations
  • with explicit support
 Exploring phase
  • in familiar situations
  • with occasional support
 Extending phase
  • in new situations
  • with occasional prompting
Being healthy
  • understanding ways to be healthy
  • follows directions for healthy choices
  • eats fruit at lunch when reminded it is healthy
  • contributes to discussions about healthy choices
  • acknowledges ‘Fruit is healthy for you’ when eating lunch
  • explains reasons for healthy choices
  • explains, ‘I am covering my mouth to catch the germs.’
  • managing self-care
  • attempts to manage personal needs
  • follows routines, with guidance, for managing eating, drinking or resting
  • manages personal needs
  • follows routines, with reminders, for managing eating, drinking or resting
  • independently manages personal needs
  • initiates routines for managing eating, drinking or resting
Staying safe
  • developing awareness of safety rules and routines
  • follows routines to be safe
  • follows kindergarten safety routines, e.g. holding onto the swing with both hands
  • understands and follows safety rules and routines
  • remembers to walk, not run, while moving to wash hands in the bathroom
  • understands, follows and explains safety rules and routines
  • explains a kindergarten safety rule to others, e.g. ‘Only one person on the mini-trampoline.’
  • building awareness of safe and unsafe risks
  • listens as others identify safe and unsafe risks
  • pays attention when unsafe situations are identified, e.g. walking in front of the slide or the swings
  • identifies safe and unsafe risks
  • responds to questions about safety, e.g. ‘How many children can play on the swing at the same time?’
  • identifies and explains safe and unsafe risks
  • suggests ways to stay safe, e.g. says to peer ‘Don’t flick sand. It gets in people’s eyes.’

Teachers use intentional teaching practices such as:

  • encouraging children’s engagement in gross motor learning experiences to build strength to manipulate objects and equipment with confidence and control
  • providing choices and materials for children to practise fine motor control
  • explaining why physical activity is important for children’s bodies and brains
  • challenging children to explore materials with various sensory properties.
Significant learning
  • knowledge, skills and dispositions
 Emerging phase
  • In familiar situations
  • with explicit support
 Exploring phase
  • in familiar situations
  • with occasional support
 Extending phase
  • in new situations
  • with occasional prompting
Developing control and strength
  • developing gross motor skills
  • begins to develop gross motor skills
  • attempts activities, with support, e.g. walks across the balance beam with adult holding hand
  • uses gross motor skills
  • attempts familiar activities, e.g. climbs and manipulates own body to move along an obstacle course
  • confidently demonstrates gross motor skills
  • perseveres with challenging activities, e.g. difficult obstacle courses and complex dance or drama routines
  • developing fine motor skills
  • attempts to manipulate objects and equipment
  • attempts to use dough scissors, e.g. makes rough cuts using whole arm movements
  • manipulates objects and equipment with increasing control and strength
  • uses scissors to cut items for personal projects, e.g. cuts paper to approximate tickets for a game
  • confidently manipulates new objects and equipment, demonstrating control and strength
  • uses scissors with control, e.g. cuts shapes for money in shop play
  • developing spatial awareness
  • begins to develop spatial awareness
  • tries movement patterns, e.g. stamping, swaying and bending
  • demonstrates spatial awareness
  • shows awareness of space, e.g. dances without bumping into people or objects
  • confidently engages in learning experiences that develop spatial awareness
  • adds challenges to movement patterns, e.g. walking backwards
Developing awareness of the senses
  • using senses for discovery
  • begins to develop sensory awareness
  • attempts sensory experiences, e.g. touches goop
  • uses their senses to explore and engage in experiences
  • engages with sensory experiences, e.g. playing with wet sand
  • uses senses to independently explore and engage in experiences
  • actively participates in new sensory experiences, e.g. sculpting clay
Last updated:
30 November 2023

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

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