Every year, St Bernard’s Lower Primary school holds a series of sessions to reinforce the concept of resilience to ensure that this crucial mindset remains part of the school’s core culture. This year, basketball sessions and the Resilience through Sport tournament have been coordinated by Ms Shaireen Nixon and involved teachers and SNLSAs working in collaboration with Coach Brian Tubridy from GABBA.

A statement continued: “During sporting activities, children naturally experience success and disappointment which help them begin to confront challenges and build team spirit. The feelings and emotions that emerge are used to explore resilience within a ‘circle-time’ at the end of each PE session. These idea-generating discussions are complemented with stories during class time where book characters demonstrate resilience and the children are encouraged to reflect on how we can all handle problems and think about possible solutions.

“The Mr Wahnon Resilience Shield was awarded to the Year Group who showed the most resilience and teamwork throughout the day. Retired SBLP teacher Mr Kevin Wahnon presented the award in person to the Year 2 Team.

“Special thanks must go to GABBA for kindly donating basketball trophies for the most resilient players in each year group. The children also made special ‘farewell’ cards for Coach Brian to say thank you for his support over the past five years as a representative of the basketball association.

St Bernard’s resilience steps are:

1. Identify the problem


2. Think about solutions


3. Keep trying and never give up!

“You can help your child build resilience by using the same language to help them grow into strong, confident individuals who are able to face difficulties and succeed!”