A whole-school community approach to managing anxiety and building resilience in Australian primary school students.
When adults change their response to anxiety, student outcomes improve significantly.
The Anxiety Project is an innovative, whole-school community initiative designed to reduce childhood anxiety and build resilience across Australian primary schools.
Developed by the NSW Primary Principals' Association (NSWPPA)in collaboration with renowned psychologist Michael Hawton, we equip educators, parents, and students in all Australian states and jurisdictions with evidence-based strategies to manage anxiety and build resilience.
We all know the fundamental truth – that children who are mentally well, learn better and are able to face life’s challenges with greater resilience.
By fostering a "have-a-go" culture, we turn schools into supportive environments where anxiety managed and reduced improving learning outcomes for students.
Our goal
Our goal is not just to raise awareness, but to create measurable behavioral change. By training "significant adults"—teachers and parents—we are seeing a profound shift in how school communities handle anxiety. Our data speaks for its self - when adults change their response to anxiety, student outcomes improve significantly.
Our impact so far
Since launching in 2022, The Anxiety Project has been rigorous in tracking its effectiveness through data-driven research.
Closing the Gap:
Participating schools successfully narrowed the performance gap between their students and broader cohort benchmarks.
What We Have Achieved So Far
Student Anxiety Reduction:
Schools report a consistent downward trend in anxious behaviours. For example, one participating school saw average anxiety scores drop from 19.37 to 11.85 over 12 months.
Parental Change:
Research confirmed a statistically significant reduction (p <.05) in "unhelpful accommodations" by parents—a key factor in maintaining childhood anxiety.
Teacher Capacity:
Staff confidence and competence in recognizing and managing student anxiety surged from a baseline of 43.8% to 66.4%.
Project Reach:
We are currently impacting over 46,000 students across 142 schools, supported by over 4,000 trained teachers.