Cool Kids at School

Program description

Cool Kids provides a suite of programs that help upper primary and secondary students aged 7 to 17 years to manage anxiety and emotional distress. It teaches young people practical skills to help reduce anxiety and overcome heightened anxiety and/or anxiety disorders.

Cool Kids aims to provide early intervention for students with heightened symptoms of anxiety. There are separate versions of the program for primary school and high school students.

Programs are delivered by an accredited provider, usually a school counsellor or psychologist. The program can be delivered to either groups of students or to an individual student who meets with a school-based Cool Kids provider and is supported by a range of resources.

Intended outcomes

• Reduction in anxiety
• Reduction in negative attitudes and beliefs
• Improved social connections, family relationships, and school connections
• Reduced school absences

Program details

Implementation considerations

• Target population: Upper primary and secondary students aged 7–17 years.
• Program adaptability: The program is suitable for neurodivergent students.
• Staffing: Each school requires at least one accredited provider. The accredited provider must have a 4-year undergraduate or 2-year postgraduate degree in health (psychology, counselling, social work, occupational therapy) or education, in addition to training in cognitive-behavioural therapy. Backfill should not be required as the program is commonly run by school-based accredited providers.
• Training requirements: The accredited provider must complete the Cool Kids training course, which can be completed online, and complete an accreditation process. Accreditation lasts 5 years and includes access to additional therapeutic resources. Accreditation is renewable and involves a short webinar on the latest research and reflection on complex cases. Training and accreditation can be conducted online or via in-person workshop in specific regions by negotiation. Training requires access to the internet.
• Factors to consider: There is no minimum number of participants. Face-to-face delivery can be individual or in groups of 8–10. The program involves 8–10 sessions of 40 to 50-minute sessions if done face-to-face, or 4–8 sessions if done online. Accredited providers have access to free, monthly drop-in sessions. If required, accredited providers can seek access to advice from qualified Macquarie staff at a fee for service rate.
• Australian context: The program has been developed, evaluated and applied in Australia.

Cost

Minimum cost

$1,000+

Detailed cost

Each school requires at least one accredited provider. Training for the Cool Kids program can be provided online at a cost of $1,069.20 (including GST).

Each student requires a set of program materials – either printed workbooks at $77 (including GST) per student or the online version with 12 months of access at $137.50 (including GST) per student.

Program costs include:

• Cool Kids e-training and accreditation programs, delivered online via OpenMQ
• master workbook set for school personnel
• access to free, monthly drop-in sessions (online) for support and continued education
• student materials
• for accredited providers interested in using the online programs with their students, there is an additional one-hour training module to complete that comes with 12 months access to the online programs and a therapist manual specific to online delivery options.