It gives me great pleasure to introduce the very first issue of CASSE enews.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with CASSE, the name stands for ‘Creating A Safe, Supportive Environment’. CASSE is dedicated to creating safe, supportive environments, through psychoanalytic understanding of conflict, bullying and violence. In adopting psychoanalytic principles, CASSE’s approach is different from most anti-bullying programs which focus on the problem behaviour, such as bullying, and suggest ways to respond to it.

CASSE’s approach has two key elements. Firstly, it encourages thinking and reflection in a community such as the school community. Secondly, by thinking and reflecting, each community will come to understand and address the hidden underlying dynamics that lead to bullying and violence.

CASSE’s approach is, therefore, proactive and preventative. It aims to build resilience in communities and equips them to respond creatively to traumatic situations, conflicts and other issues which, if unresolved, could lead to bullying and violence.

2011 has been an exciting year of growth for the organisation. Following a successful 12 month pilot in Lumen Christi Primary School, CASSE is now embarking on an expanded pilot program, to be rolled out across another 10 schools from 2012.

Along with developing CASSE’s corporate identity, we have also been very busy establishing CASSE as a valuable resource in terms of managing bullying in schools. The ‘Innovative Approaches’ conference, co-hosted with The Dax Centre in May, was very well attended and provided invaluable insights into promoting emotional health and wellbeing in schools. We were extremely fortunate to have several international luminaries as keynote speakers at the conference.

The CASSE website, www.casse.org.au, was also launched in May and is an evolving source of information. From fully transcripted and translated video interviews with antibullying experts, to research papers and interesting articles, the website is the starting point for anyone seeking information about creating safe, supportive environments.

I hope you enjoy keeping informed about CASSE’s progress!

Dr Eugen Koh
Director, CASSE

Designed to become an invaluable resource for teachers, students and the CASSE team, the CASSE website is live and continuing to grow.

One of the most exciting features of the site is CASSEtv – launched with SEECue software, this includes videos with full transcripts and translations in English, Chinese and Vietnamese. The CASSEtv video library currently includes interviews with staff and students involved with CASSE’s preliminary pilot program at Lumen Christi Primary School, presentations by Keynote speakers at CASSE’s ‘Innovative Approaches’ conference, and an interview with international experts on preventing bullying and violence.

visit www.casse.org.au

CASSE’s School Pilot Program builds on the successful CAPSLE (Creating A Peaceful School Learning Environment) Model developed by US anti bullying experts, Professor Stuart Twemlow, Dr Frank Sacco and Professor Peter Fonagy, which highlights the importance of promoting mentalisation and understanding the dynamics of bullying, in particular the role of the bystander.

The aim of CASSE’s School Pilot Program is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the CAPSLE model when translated into Australian schools, to contribute to research into preventing bullying and to prepare for wider implementation across interested schools in the future. We are currently in the process of recruiting ten schools to commence the School Pilot Program in 2012.

If you would like any further information, or if you would like your school to be considered for CASSE’s 2012 School Pilot Program, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Carolyn Aston
CASSE School Program Director
Ph 0417 328 648, Email carolyn.aston@casse.org.au.
 

With the expansion of CASSE’s School Pilot program, CASSE has also been in the process of expanding its team of Facilitators. We are delighted to welcome Ineke Van Vliet, Ana Dellarocca, Therese Raulin, Julie Bruce, Camillo Redi, Di Cronin, Alexis Aytekin, Heather Kippen and Jane Searle on board.

The CASSE Facilitators operate in School Teams. Within these teams, one Facilitator’s background is in education and the other is in psychoanalysis. Together they will work with their allocated Pilot Program schools to facilitate CASSE’s approach to addressing bullying and creating safe, supportive schools.

On 5-6 May 2011, CASSE and The Dax Centre together presented the inaugural 'Innovative Approaches' conference. Under the umbrella of ‘promoting emotional health and wellbeing in schools’, a selection of internationally respected and interesting speakers presented their thoughts based on cutting edge knowledge about the mind, child development, psychoanalysis, group dynamics and neuroscience.

The conference was well attended and offered a terrific forum for school and education representatives to access information and network. The level of interest in and feedback from the event indicated a real need for such a forum. We are excited to announce that the CASSE Conference will now become an annual event.

As Professor Stuart Twemlow stated in his keynote address, “when you create a peaceful school as teachers and psychologists, you are also creating the potential for a peaceful city and a peaceful country”.

Presentations from the conference are now available to view and download:
http://www.casse.org.au/cassetv
http://www.casse.org.au/conference-notes?link=239