Our Work
Everyone experiences change and loss. It might be the death of someone we love, a separation, or a natural disaster. MacKillop Seasons helps children, young people and adults understand these feelings and learn healthy ways to cope. We do this by training adults to run small group sessions run in schools and communities.
What does MacKillop Seasons do?
MacKillop Seasons is part of MacKillop Family Services and delivered by the team within The MacKillop Institute - the professional learning and training arm of MacKillop. We were once known as Good Grief. Over 30 years, our programs have helped more than 500,000 people in Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Barbados and Sweden.
Here is how our work makes a difference:
- We give schools and community adults the skills and resources to support people through grief, change and loss.
- We train local adults to run our evidence-based small group education programs. We call these trained people 'Companions' as they walk the journey alongside those they support - companioning them on their way. They guide each group through the program.
- We adapt our programs to suit different experiences and needs. This includes for children, young people, adults, parents and experiences such as support after a suicide, a natural disaster, a pandemic, forced migration, or time spent in home-based care.
What are our education programs?
We have five main programs in the Seasons for Growth family. Each one is designed for a different group of people:
- Seasons for Growth Children and Young People’s program This program trains adults to build the skills and confidence of children and young people who need to cope after a big change or loss.
- Stormbirds program This program trains adults to help young people adjust to change and loss after a natural disaster.
- Seasons for Growth Parent program This program helps parents understand what death, separation and divorce feel like from a child’s point of view.
- Seasons for Growth Adult program This program helps adults understand and respond to major change, loss and grief in their own lives.
- Seasons for Healing program This program offers a culturally safe way to learn about change, loss and grief.
What are our services in schools and communities?
Our programs are backed by extra services for schools and communities. These are:
- Seasons for Life initiative This is a fully government funded service that supports high schools across Australia after a suicide or another loss. It offers grief education that has been tested and shown to work.
- Disaster Recovery support Our government funded Community Resilience Officers work on the ground in QLD, VIC and NSW communities hit by natural disasters.
- Wellbeing in Schools Several state education departments including VIC, SA and NSW list our programs on their official wellbeing panels.
How do we know the programs work?
Our suite of Seasons for Growth programs have been evaluated by universities on numerous occasions since their inception in 1996. The Children and Young People’s program is recognised in evidence-based program directories with the Australian Government’s Australian Institute of Family Studies Communities for Children Facilitating Partners Evidence-based programme profiles and state education departments in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
In 2019, the program was recognised with a high impact rating in the in Australian Research Council’s Engagement and Impact Assessment 2018-19 National Report and in Impact NSW report by the NSW Education Department.