The whole-school approach your staff can implement
Eight evidence-based components. Three delivery pillars: surveys, teaching and whole-school implementation modules, coaching. From a $20 review tool to multi-year facilitated rollout — built on 25+ years of Australian research.
Friendly Schools shares the same evidence base as the NSW framework — the research that shaped both has come from the same program of work since 1999. Schools using Friendly Schools meet the framework’s requirements through their existing practice.
Three components, working together
Friendly Schools is delivered in three critical components: a survey to benchmark where your school is at, modules to implement the curriculum, and staff coaching to embed the framework. Each component was validated as part of the OASIS research project (2021–2025) at The Kids Research Institute Australia — we’re scaling what the research showed works.
1 · Surveys
Map the Gap
A 30-minute digital review across the eight whole-school components. Your wellbeing team gets a benchmarked review of your school’s practices and ranked recommendations the same day.
2 · Modules
The Library
The full set of Friendly Schools resources — year-level teaching and learning activities, posters, family booklets, the whole-school practices guidebook — digitised and indexed to your Map the Gap priorities.
3 · Coaching
Embed it well
Optional one-on-one support: a wellbeing coach who can help you sequence the rollout, train your staff, and work through the trickier conversations. Light-touch, on your timeline.
What 25 years of Australian research has shown
Friendly Schools is one of the most extensively researched school wellbeing programs in the world. Six numbers schools quote when making the case to their boards for implementing a highly researched whole-school approach to wellbeing and bullying prevention.
Australian students experience bullying
Year 4–9 students reporting being bullied at school.
of bullying interactions have peer onlookers
Peer witnesses interrupt bullying within 10 seconds when they intervene. Friendly Schools teaches the bystander skills that work.
RCT to reduce cyberbullying anywhere in the world
The Cyber Friendly Schools trial (2008–2012) showed sustained reduction in cyberbullying victimisation through Year 9 across 35 Australian secondary schools.
academic-percentile gain from SEL programs
Meta-analysis of 213 SEL studies: students in evidence-based SEL programs out-performed peers by 11 percentile points academically, on top of wellbeing gains.
research projects since 1999
Every recommendation in Friendly Schools traces to a published, peer-reviewed Australian study. The body of work is open and inspectable.
Australian children, families & staff studied
From foundational primary trials in WA through national cyberbullying research, the evidence base spans schools, sectors, year levels and remoteness.
The product your school opens every week
Real screenshots from inside Friendly Schools. Click any tile to view full-size.
The review dashboard
Score the actions your school is taking across 6 evidence-based components in 30 minutes. The dashboard ranks priority areas, analyses staff responses, and routes you straight into Insights, Recommendations, Action Plan and Compare views that let you see results side by side across year levels or over time.
Run the $20 review tool →
Every recommendation guides your school to a real resource
The platform matches each of your school’s lowest-scoring components to specific Friendly Schools toolkits, family communication sheets and training modules — with one-click access to start each one.
See the full resource library →
Track school progress — through student and staff voices
Segment tabs for each of the 8 whole-school components. Staff and students complete short iyarn check-ins — capturing both voices, weekly. Longitudinal charts show exactly where things are trending up, flat, or down — per segment, per week.
See weekly tracking in action →iyarn check-ins digitise existing Friendly Schools student voice activities. The same prompts from the Friendly Schools curriculum, delivered as short weekly tap-responses rather than paper worksheets. Dashboards aggregate class and year-level trends against the 8 whole-school components. This is a school-wide progress-tracking tool, not an individual psychometric instrument.
The full Friendly Schools catalogue, online
Year-level teaching and learning activities (K–Year 9), the Evidence for Practice whole-school practices guidebook, Family Book, cyber leaders resources, Posters and 10-pack assembly items — digitised, searchable, and indexed to your Map the Gap priorities.
Browse the full catalogue →The $20 pilot shows you your school’s results on this dashboard.
No sales call, no onboarding wait. Pay $20, log in, run Map the Gap with your wellbeing team, download the leadership report the same day.
Pick the depth that suits your school
Four subscription plans to scale with your school’s readiness — plus two standalone options if you’d rather build your own stack.
Map the Gap
A 30-minute digital review of your school’s current practice. Your wellbeing team scores across 8 evidence-based components and gets a benchmarked report with resource recommendations.
- 8 Whole-School Components assessed
- 48+ evidence-based strategies reviewed
- Benchmarked leadership-ready report
- Recommendations per priority area
- Completes in 30 minutes, team of 3–6
Digital Resource Library
The full Friendly Schools curriculum online. Year-level teaching and learning resources, posters, parent booklet, and staff guide — indexed to your Map the Gap priorities.
- Small schools under 300 students: $400/yr
- Mid-sized 300–800: $600/yr
- Large schools 800+: $900/yr
- All year levels, all classroom resources
- Schools that previously purchased the PDF resources receive a $100 credit
Whole-School Approach
The complete Friendly Schools package — digitised curriculum, iyarn student voice check-ins, plus optional coordinated implementation support.
- Self-Guided $2K–5K/yr: Map the Gap, Digital Library, Teacher PD, Student Voice, email support
- Facilitated $8K–15K/yr: Everything above plus scheduled implementation coaching
- Tiered by school size
Student Voice Check-ins
Short, regular tap-check-ins that digitise existing Friendly Schools student voice activities. Dashboards aggregate responses by class or year level, showing where SEL themes trend up or down over time.
- Existing Friendly Schools resources, delivered digitally
- Mapped to Friendly Schools SEL areas
- Class and year-level trends, not individual assessments
- Completion tracking + certificates
Teacher Professional Development
Online modules for whole-school staff are currently in development, with progress tracking and completion certificates planned. Register your interest and we’ll let you know when they’re available.
- Covers the core Friendly Schools framework
- Understanding Social and Emotional Learning
- Responding to bullying effectively
- Building positive classroom culture
- New for 2026: how to use Map the Gap
Classroom Resource Packs
The original Friendly Schools teaching and learning resources, posters, and family booklets. Year-level coverage from Early Childhood through Year 9.
- Year-level books K–Year 9 ($29.95 each)
- Evidence for Practice whole-school guidebook ($65)
- Primary Complete Pack bundle ($350)
- Secondary Complete Pack ($200)
What you get at each level
| Feature | Map the Gap $20 one-off |
Digital Library $400–$900/yr |
Whole-School Approach Self-Guided $2K–$5K/yr |
Whole-School Approach Facilitated $8K–$15K/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8-component review | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Benchmarked report with recommendations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full digitised classroom curriculum | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Teacher PD modules + tracking (in development) | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Student Voice check-ins + dashboards | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email support + 1hr onboarding | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Whole-staff training (on-site or virtual — in development) | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Facilitated Map the Gap session | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Wellbeing team implementation coaching | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Quarterly check-ins with facilitator | — | — | — | ✓ |
Classroom Resource Packs (PDFs) and Teacher PD can also be purchased standalone via the shop.
What schools told researchers in the Strong Schools Safe Kids study
The Strong Schools Safe Kids project (2011–2014) ran a multi-year independent evaluation of Friendly Schools across 21 Australian schools. These verbatim quotes are from the published case studies. Schools are anonymised at their request; full case studies available on enquiry.
It gave us honest, open data from our students. Otherwise we would have been basing it on the assumptions we’ve got about our students — and they’re not always on the money.
To have someone who is independent and external touching base with you is a real motivator and makes you feel accountable, therefore things get done.
The most useful action has probably been the implementation of the Friendly Schools initiative within the primary sector. All of our teachers have run with it — that’s made a big difference with the bullying issues in the primary school.
Things schools ask before they buy
If your question isn’t here, get in touch — we reply to every enquiry within two business days.
What does the NSW Term 1 2027 mandate require?
From Term 1 2027, every NSW public school is expected to operate under the new NSW Anti-Bullying Framework, which has four components: Responding, Preventing, Implementing and Partnering. Independent and Catholic schools are being asked to follow. The framework follows the federal Anti-Bullying Rapid Review delivered in 2025 — other states are likely to provide similar mandates.
Friendly Schools is structured around the same evidence base as the NSW framework, so schools using Friendly Schools will be well aligned with the National Anti-bullying Rapid Review and NSW recommendations.
Can we start mid-year, or do we have to wait for Term 1?
You can start at any point in the year. Map the Gap (the $20 review tool) takes 30 minutes; the resulting practice review and recommendations are immediately actionable.
Most schools begin with the review tool + planning in one term, then layer curriculum + whole-school actions such as enhancing student voice from the following term onward.
We already use Be You / a wellbeing program. Does Friendly Schools replace it?
No. Friendly Schools is complementary to Be You, Berry Street, Resilient Youth, KidsMatter and most existing wellbeing frameworks. The 8 whole-school components and ACARA-aligned curriculum slot alongside programs your school already has in place.
Schools typically use Friendly Schools to give their existing wellbeing work a measurable, evidence-based framework — not to start over.
How long does onboarding take?
For Map the Gap: a 30-minute review tool; reports back same day.
For the Digital Library (all Friendly Schools whole-school resources) + Whole-School Approach: it typically takes two to four weeks from beginning Friendly Schools to staff having live access to the platform, including a kickoff call and your school’s account setup. The whole-school facilitated approach typically includes scheduled coaching across the school year.
Can a school self-implement, or do we need facilitation?
Most schools self-implement using the Digital Library of resources + Whole-School Approach (Self-Guided). The platform walks staff through each whole-school component, with classroom and whole-school resources, planning tools and built-in progress tracking.
The Whole-School Approach (Facilitated) adds scheduled coaching from the iyarn team, useful for schools without a dedicated wellbeing lead or schools tackling psychosocial-safety challenges.
Who typically leads the program in the school?
Most successful schools appoint a wellbeing coordinator or deputy principal as the wellbeing leader, supported by a small implementation team (3–5 staff across primary/secondary). The platform is designed to support the wellbeing leader via dashboards for the lead, modules for the team, classroom and whole-school resources for every teacher.
Is Friendly Schools eligible for NSW Anti-Bullying funding?
Friendly Schools aligns closely with the requirements of the NSW Anti-Bullying Framework. We can provide compliance documentation and alignment statements on request to support school funding applications.
Why is Map the Gap only $20?
We keep the price at $20 so that every school can afford to run the review tool. We cover the cost of the platform; the $20 is administrative. There’s no upsell mechanism in the review tool itself — you get the full report regardless of whether you go further.
Schools that find gaps and want to act typically move to the Digital Library or Whole-School Approach tiers. Schools that don’t still get a quality practice review for their leadership team.
Aligned to the frameworks your school is already accountable to
NSW Anti-Bullying Framework MANDATORY 2027
The NSW framework’s four components — Responding, Preventing, Implementing and Partnering — align with the same body of evidence that has shaped Friendly Schools since 1999. Compliance is mandatory for NSW public schools from Term 1, 2027; Independent and Catholic schools are being asked to follow.
Australian Curriculum (ACARA)
Every Friendly Schools lesson maps to the Personal & Social Capability General Capability. The 5 SEL skill areas — Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Social Decision-Making — cover ACARA’s four elements (Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Social Management).
National Safe Schools Framework
Friendly Schools maps to all 9 elements of the Australian National Safe Schools Framework — from leadership commitment through partnerships with families and community (Evidence for Practice, Fig 1, p.5).
Most schools begin with Map the Gap.
Thirty minutes with your wellbeing team. Eight whole-school components benchmarked. A leadership-ready report and a ranked list of priority areas the same day.
Self-serve · 30-day platform access · no sales call required
Evidence-based wellbeing for Australian schools. Built on 25+ years of research at The Kids Research Institute Australia.
Friendly Schools acknowledges the Whadjuk Noongar people as the traditional custodians of the land on which our work began, and pays respect to Elders past and present.
