Secret Agent Society Small Group Program

Program description

The Secret Agent Society Small Group Program (SAS) improves social participation and helps students identify and regulate their emotions.

The program uses digital-health software and involves gamified learning with its espionage theme. School staff are trained as facilitators and lead interactive sessions and mentor students to work on skill generalisation at home and school.

The program is typically suited to neurodivergent students, and other students with specific social and emotional goals who benefit from small group learning.

Intended outcomes

• Increased knowledge of anxiety and anger management strategies
• Increased recognition of emotional cues in others
• Improved regulation of emotions
• More diverse social skills for teamwork and connection
• Lower impact of hyperactivity and behaviour on classroom engagement
• Improved self-management strategies and student coping tools
• Improved ability to respond to bullying

Program details

Implementation considerations

• Target population: The program is targeted at building the capacity of primary and secondary school staff.
• Program adaptability: SAS Facilitators are trained, supported and expected to flexibly adapt the program based on their students’ context, learning style, preferences and needs. SAS can be offered individually or in a small group and in person or via telehealth. The program is adaptable for diverse cohorts including:
  • culturally and linguistically diverse students
  • neurodivergent students
  • students with a disability.
• Staffing: Schools may be required to have backfill in place but can choose when they schedule program delivery (child meetings, parent meetings and other program-related activities), and when staff spend time on professional training. Schools might opt to run all or parts of the program during class time, or outside school hours. The need for backfill may also be determined by the type of staff member delivering SAS to students. The Menu provider and its personnel must not be alone with any school student or group of school students in the classroom or in any other place at the school’s premises without another educator, teacher or teacher’s aide present at all times.
• Training requirements: Schools will be required to train staff in SAS facilitation or bring in external contractors to fill the role. The SAS Facilitator Training Course involves a 14-hour online professional development training that can be completed flexibly over 3 months, either individually or in a team.
• Factors to consider: There is a minimum of one student to one trained SAS facilitator required, with no more than 3–4 students per facilitator. An internet connection and compatible devices are required to access the program software and resources. Each student also requires their own 12-month user licence which is allocated through the SAS Facilitator Dashboard. A free 30-minute consultation is included in the training costs, and ongoing support is available for program coordination, planning and troubleshooting. Clinical support focused consultations are also available for a fee if requested.
• Australian context: This program has been developed and applied in Australia.

Cost

Minimum cost

$1,000+

Detailed cost

To access the program, schools need to purchase at least one x Facilitator Training course and choose one x SAS Provider Subscription.

The SAS Facilitator Training course, that can be completed flexibly online over 3 months, costs $1,045.00 (incl. GST) per staff member, with the SAS Assistant Short Course (for adults wishing to assist in a group meeting alongside trained SAS Facilitators) costing $65.45 (incl. GST) per staff member. There is a 5% discount for 6+ participants, a 10% discount for 11+ and a 20% discount for 20+.

The SAS Provider Subscription annual cost varies depending on the number of student cadet places required, as follows:

• Hub SAS subscription: $1,221.00 (incl. GST) for 6 student cadet places plus a $658.90 (incl. GST) establishment fee (additional student places cost $203.50 incl. GST each)
• Bureau SAS subscription: $4,488.00 (incl. GST) for 24 student cadet places plus a $878.90 establishment fee (additional student places cost $187.00 incl. GST each)
• Network SAS subscription: $17,050.00 (incl. GST) for 100 student cadet places plus a $1,098.90 establishment fee (additional student places cost $170.50 incl. GST each)
• Flexi SAS subscription: $658.90 (incl. GST) annual access fee for 6 student cadet places (additional student places cost $225.50 incl. GST each).

Student cadet places are software licences purchased for a student and their family to participate in the program for 12 months. Subscriptions include:

• one x 30-minute consultation with the provider plus ongoing ad-hoc support
• comprehensive facilitator manual
• intake and assessment questionnaires
• teacher tip sheets
• student handouts and templates
• a series of sharable video tutorials on software use.

Clinical support focused consultations with provider facilitators are available at $181.50 (incl. GST) per hour.

Schools can also purchase E-Telligence physical resource packs that can accompany the program for $64.90 (incl. GST) per student.