People who are prudent think carefully and make sensible and smart choices. Prudent people plan carefully and think before they act or speak.

Prudence sits within the “Meaning” arm of the BHPS PERMA model and there are quite a few goals that  people who are keen to be more prudent can aspire to. These include:

• Doing things that make a positive difference,
• Making good choices
• using the character strengths of positive role models and
• helping others.

Being prudent can also mean making sensible decisions about where you can seek help if needed and knowing who you can help.

Motto: Think before you act.

“Make smart choices,” is a rule that can be easily applied to primary school students. There are many ways to see how it works. Think about the smart and foolish choices made by characters in a story, famous historical individuals and/or students in the playground.  Prudent decisions are wise decisions and making thoughtless choices without thinking before acting are the opposite.

Some examples of books wherein the characters display prudence (or not!) include:

“The Ant and the Grasshopper” is a fable wherein the organised ant plans for the Winter while the arrogant and lazy grasshopper makes fun of the ant. The grasshopper regrets his not so prudent decision making later!

“Can I Join Your Club” shows the main character being rejected by the other animals and making the decision to make his own club where everyone belongs.

Finally, “How to Heal a Broken Wing,” by Bob Graham shows a little boy in a sea of adults making the prudent and kind decision to help a bird lying injured on the pavement.

People who have the “Honesty” character strength are honest, not only to themselves, but to others as well. Being honest is about taking responsibility for your own actions and not blaming others. People who are honest are down to earth, ethical and act with integrity.

“I always tell the truth and show how I feel” Honesty is not just about telling the truth, it’s about living your life in a genuine and authentic way. It’s about being down to earth and without pretense. Being honest also means being ethical and acting with integrity. 

We all know how important it is to be honest when we are at home and at school. When playing games, honest people play by the rules as this makes it more fun for everyone. “Owning up” to something that you may have done, even if it was a mistake, is something that honest people do too.

At Barwon Heads PS, Honesty lies within the Meaning arm of our PERMA model.

Watch “The Anthill” – What lesson did Hercules learn? How did his dishonesty effect others?

“The Empty Pot”

This story also has the importance of honesty as its main message, but it is both a fiction and a non-fiction text with some interesting information about medieval times.

Why is it important to be honest?

Can you come up with your own moral? e.g. Being honest will earn you the respect of others OR Honesty is respected.

Make a poster of your moral.

Fairness is a character strength that fits within the relationship arm of the Barwon Heads PS PERMA starfish.

Fair means treating everyone equally and giving everyone a fair chance. Fair is when everyone has their needs met. To be fair you need to remember to treat people the way you want to be treated.

People who are fair play by the rules, they take turns and think about how their actions may affect others.

The following videos show examples of both unfairness and fairness.

This is Our House by Bob Graham

At school and at home, when playing (games and sport) and being with others, there are many examples of writtten and unwritten rules to make things fair to everyone.

Being a positive bystander is another example of fairness.

Some more examples of unwritten rules can be; in my home, people take their shoes off before they come inside if they are muddy or wet so as not to dirty the floors. Another understanding is that we take it in turns to wash the dishes after dinner.

In the classroom, students know to put their hands up if they want to speak as it’s unfair to the teacher and their classmates if they call out. Another unwritten rule is that we are considerate of others, especially our classmates and teachers.

Can you list some rules, or understandings that you can think of that make things fair? Why do we have these understandings/rules?

Modesty is about not showing off and knowing your strengths and weaknesses.

Modesty is like humility and people who show humility do not seek the spotlight, preferring to let their accomplishments speak for themselves. They do not regard themselves as special, and others recognise their modesty.

It is good to be confident in yourself and to always strive to be the best you can be. Yet, truly successful people strive not only to be their best, but to be great in how they treat others and celebrate their talents.

Modesty comes within the Positive Emotions arm of our PERMA model.

Modesty is not just for the footy field or basketball court, it is something to apply to every aspect of your life.  It is about being courteous and saying “please” and “thank you” all the time, not occasionally.  It is about being able to apologise to others even if you are just slightly in the wrong.  It is also about listening and open to learning from others.  Being humble is recognising that everyone has different strengths and paying complements to other people.

“The Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister – How did Rainbow Fish’s lack of modesty effect the way others thought of him?

How you can help your children develop Humility (for parents, but equally applicable in the classroom).

“King Pig”  by Nick Bland – did King Pig show modesty? How did his behaviour impact on those around him?

Can you make connections between humility and modesty?

Can you think of someone who you look up to who shows modesty? It might be a leader, someone you know or a sports star.

People with wisdom are wise and understand what is important in life. Having wisdom means being able to give advice and recognising different sides before making decisions.

Older people are said to be wise as they have lived through so many different experiences. People with wisdom are often understanding and have a bank of knowledge or learning from the past that they use to choose from. They think before they speak or offer advice.

Can you think of a person or a mentor who shows the Character Strength of Wisdom? What about Aesop’s fables? Can you think of any fables wherein characters display wisdom?

What have you learnt about life? What words of wisdom would you give to a student younger than you?

The Three Questions

“Because” by Mo Williams