Rock and Water Program

Rock and Water is the psycho-physical program taught to students from Kindergarten to Year 6 at St Columba Anglican School. The program is considered ‘psycho-physical’ because students learn about their own mental and emotional reactions through engaging in physical activity.

Students develop self-confidence and learn to engage in the self-reflection process through engaging in carefully selected physical games. In the games, students learn to block, stand strong, negotiate using “rock” or “water” verbal approaches, walk away from a fight, consider alternatives to aggression, and develop understandings about who they are, their intuitive feelings and their direction.

One of the key concepts taught in Rock and Water is ‘ground, centre, focus’ and ‘stand strong’. These concepts teach students to control their emotions by applying a breathing technique. Students understand that when one has control of their emotions, they can think clearly and make the most logical decisions. Students learn that they can 'stand strong' by applying the breathing technique (ground, centre, focus). Students practice this each day in their classes so that they can apply it when necessary.

Students learn to engage with others through eye contact. Reading the emotional cues presented by the face allows one to properly understand how the other is feeling and provide alerts on what to do next. Here, students learn to apply the ‘stand strong’ concept when faced with opposition and endeavour to solve a dispute peacefully.

Rock and Water instructors are joined by the classroom teachers. This way, students see their teacher approving the exercise and feel more comfortable engaging in the program. Classroom teachers also learn the language and techniques of Rock and Water and can start applying them in their class.

Many benefits will be enabled by training and retraining students in Rock and Water. These benefits should include: students will have an increased self-confidence and self-control, students will be more aware of the impact their actions and inactions have on those around them and teachers and students will have a common language to use when dealing with behaviour issues.

It is believed that the synergy of these benefits will provide the school with a more positive environment consisting of happy students and staff.