Secret Agent Society Small Group Program

Program description

The Secret Agent Society Small Group Program (SAS) improves social participation and helps students identify and regulate their emotions.

The program uses digital-health software and involves gamified learning with its espionage theme. Facilitators lead interactive sessions and mentor students to work on skill generalisation at home and school.

The program is typically suited to neurodivergent students, and other students with specific social and emotional goals who benefit from small group learning.

Intended outcomes

• Increased knowledge of anxiety and anger management strategies
• Increased recognition of emotional cues in others
• Improved regulation of emotions
• More diverse social skills for teamwork and connection
• Lower impact of hyperactivity and behaviour on classroom engagement
• Improved self-management strategies and student coping tools
• Improved ability to respond to bullying

Program details

Implementation considerations

• Target population: Students aged 8–12 with identified social and emotional goals, including children diagnosed with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety disorders.
• Program adaptability: The program is suitable for diverse cohorts including:
  • culturally and linguistically diverse students
  • neurodivergent students
  • students with a disability.
• Staffing: Schools may be required to have backfill in place but can choose when they schedule program delivery (child meetings, parent meetings and other program-related activities), and when staff spend time on professional training. Schools might opt to run all or parts of the program during class time, or outside school hours. The need for backfill may also be determined by the type of staff member delivering SAS to students.
• Training requirements: Schools will be required to train staff in SAS facilitation or bring in external contractors to fill the role. The SAS Facilitator Training Course involves a 14-hour online professional development training that can be completed flexibly over 3 months, either individually or in a team.
• Factors to consider: There is a minimum of one student to one trained SAS facilitator required, with no more than 3–4 students per facilitator. An internet connection and compatible devices are required to access the program software and resources. Each student also requires their own 12-month user licence which is allocated through the SAS Facilitator Dashboard. A free 30-minute consultation is included in the training costs, and ongoing support is available for program coordination, planning and troubleshooting. Clinical support focused consultations are also available for a fee if requested.
• Australian context: This program has been developed and applied in Australia.

Cost

Minimum cost

$1,000+

Detailed cost

The SAS Facilitator Training costs $1,045 (including GST) per staff member, with the SAS Assistant Short Course costing $65.45 (including GST) per staff member. There is a 5% discount for 6+ participants, a 10% discount for 11+, and a 20% discount for 20+.

The SAS Provider Subscription cost varies depending on the number of student places required, as follows:

• $1,221 (including GST) for up to 6 students
• $4,488 (including GST) for up to 24 students
• $17,050 (including GST) for up to 100 students.

Additional individual student places can be purchased at an extra cost, depending on the size of the subscription.

The following is included in the program:

• 14-hour SAS Facilitator Training Course (as purchased)
• 2-hour SAS Assistant Training (optional)
• An interactive digital platform for SAS Facilitators, children and other supporting adults
• A comprehensive Facilitator Manual including lesson plans and guidance on adapting to different student needs
• Intake and assessment questionnaires to determine program suitability and measure outcomes
• Teacher tip sheets
• Handouts and templates for supporting child activities
• Series of sharable video tutorials on software use.