Every Child is Special – Character Development

This unit is designed to introduce Foundation students to key concepts of self-discipline, reflection, and kindness.

Through a series of interactive lessons, students will explore the meaning of self-discipline, learn how to recognise and manage their emotions, and understand how reflection can improve their behaviour and learning.

The unit highlights the importance of making mistakes as a natural part of growth, encouraging students to view mistakes as opportunities for learning and improvement. Additionally, students will develop an understanding of kindness and gratitude, learning how to express appreciation and perform acts of kindness in daily life.

Real-life examples will help students connect these concepts to the world around them.

By the end of the unit, students will have built essential character traits, such as making thoughtful choices, learning from experiences, and showing kindness and gratitude to others.

• Lesson 1: Students recall a time they made a difficult but good choice and share their experience. 
• Lesson 2: Students practise stopping, naming their feeling, and taking a deep breath to control emotions. 
• Lesson 3: Students reflect on a past action and consider how they could improve next time. 
• Lesson 4: Students discuss mistakes they have made and how they learned from them. 
• Lesson 5: Students match sound clips to kindness and explain why. 
• Lesson 6: Students share an act of kindness they have done or received. 
• Lesson 7: Students identify a person, place, time, and thing they are grateful to have. 
• Lesson 8: Students learn to view life through ‘gratitude goggles’ to find and share things they appreciate in their surroundings. 

Features

• Animated flipbook
• Audio and video clips
• Animations

Real Life Exemplars

• Michael Jordan (Lesson 3)
• Thomas Edison (Lesson 4)

Lessons

• 9 Week Unit
• Lessons are 20 minutes and delivered once a week for eight weeks
• Week 9 –Personal Reflection is completed by students

Resources

• Instructional Teaching Guide
• Student Workbook
• Unit Overview
• Personal Reflection
• Posters
• Professional Learning Modules

In this unit, Year 1 and 2 students will explore key concepts that support personal growth: self-discipline, kindness, gratitude, passion, curiosity, belief and grit.

Through a variety of hands-on activities, real-life exemplars and reflective exercises, students will learn to harness these traits to set goals, overcome challenges and build positive character.

Students will engage in activities such as goal-setting, writing letters of kindness and gratitude, exploring passions through interactive games, and learning how belief and perseverance contribute to personal growth.

By the end of the unit, students will have developed strategies to manage their emotions, set and achieve personal goals, and recognise the power of persistence and kindness in their daily lives.

• Lesson 1: Students reflect on something they want to improve, set a goal, plan steps, and imagine how they’ll feel once they reach the goal.  
• Lesson 2: Students draw and discuss how they show kindness and gratitude.  
• Lesson 3: Students stand up and shout out something they are passionate about.  
• Lesson 4: Students observe an image, ask questions, and discuss curiosity.  
• Lesson 5: Students set a curiosity-based goal and plan steps to achieve it.  
• Lesson 6: Students create a ‘I believe I can’ poster with affirmations to believe in themselves.  
• Lesson 7: Students complete a matchstick puzzle to practice grit.  
• Lesson 8: Students design a ‘Grit Shield’ with how their belief and grit have shielded them in challenging times. 

Features

• Animated flipbook
• Audio and video clips
• Animations

Real Life Exemplars

• Walt Disney (Lesson 1)
• Jane Goodall (Lesson 4) 
• Superheroes (Lesson 5) 

Lessons

• 9 Week Unit
• Lessons are 20 minutes and delivered once a week for eight weeks
• Week 9 –Personal Reflection is completed by students

Resources

• Instructional Teaching Guide
• Student Workbook
• Unit Overview
• Personal Reflection
• Posters
• Professional Learning Modules

In Years 3–4, students will discover how effort, time and consistency play vital roles in achieving their goals.

Through engaging activities and real-life exemplars, they will explore the concepts of self-discipline, gratitude, curiosity, belief and grit, with a particular focus on how consistent effort and the time spent practising a skill can lead to growth and success.

This unit introduces key ideas, such as how to use time effectively, the value of consistent effort and the importance of perseverance when challenges arise.

By connecting these concepts to relatable activities and inspiring role models, students will be encouraged to apply these lessons in their own lives to build skills, overcome obstacles and grow in confidence.

• Lesson 1: Students crumple paper as an analogy for how mistakes help the brain grow.
• Lesson 2: Write acts of kindness on paper strips and link them into a chain.
• Lesson 3: Explore interactive digital resources and share topics of curiosity.
• Lesson 4: Decorate a ‘surfboard of strengths’ using belief and grit to help overcome obstacles.
• Lesson 5: Make effort-based choices inspired by Ash Barty’s journey.
• Lesson 6: Use directed drawing to consistently improve over time.
• Lesson 7: Organise and prioritise tasks on a to-do list to use time wisely.
• Lesson 8: Build paper aeroplanes twice, comparing distracted vs. focused efforts. 

Features

• Animated flipbook
• Audio and video clips
• Animations

Real Life Exemplars

• Alexander Graham Bell (Lesson 1)
• Bethany Hamilton (Lesson 4) 

• Ashleigh Barty (Lesson 5) 

Lessons

• 9 Week Unit
• Lessons are 20 minutes and delivered once a week for eight weeks
• Week 9 –Personal Reflection is completed by students

Resources

• Instructional Teaching Guide
• Student Workbook
• Unit Overview
• Personal Reflection
• Posters
• Professional Learning Modules

This unit empowers students to explore and develop essential character traits that foster personal growth, resilience and leadership.

Through real-life exemplars, engaging activities and reflective exercises, students will deepen their understanding of self-discipline, kindness, curiosity, belief, grit and service.

By cultivating these traits, they will learn how to overcome challenges, pursue their passions and make a positive impact on their communities.

The unit emphasises a Growth Mindset, encouraging students to see mistakes as opportunities for mastering learning and to actively build skills that strengthen character.

• Lesson 1: Students discuss past experiences and how reflection helps them improve.

• Lesson 2: Students take turns giving or receiving compliments, practicing kindness and gratitude.

• Lesson 3: Students shout out what they’re passionate about.

• Lesson 4: Students reflect on a time they showed belief and grit, then share with a partner.

• Lesson 5: Students learn about different types of habits and select a new habit to implement and track for 30 days.

• Lesson 6: Students work together to brainstorm and plan a class service project in the school community.

• Lesson 7: Students identify leadership qualities of leaders they know and their own leadership qualities.

• Lesson 8: Students reflect on their strengths (glows) and areas for improvement (grows) in leadership and service. 

Features

• Animated flipbook
• Audio and video clips
• Animations

Real Life Exemplars

• Michael Jordan (Lesson 1)
• Mae Jemison (Lesson 3)
• J.K. Rowling (Lesson 4) 

Lessons

• 9 Week Unit
• Lessons are 20 minutes and delivered once a week for eight weeks
• Week 9 –Personal Reflection is completed by students

Resources

• Instructional Teaching Guide
• Student Workbook
• Unit Overview
• Personal Reflection
• Posters
• Professional Learning Modules