The Social Skills Training Institute (SST) and Secret Agent Society (SAS) continue to lead the delivery of innovative therapeutic programming for children’s social and emotional skills by bringing you one integrated software package to deliver the SAS Small Group Program to families.

 The evidence-based content and program structure have now been digitised, combing family and facilitator resources within one digital system. This unique approach to program delivery means that SAS Small Group can be delivered in both telehealth and face-to-face sessions to families utilising the same digital platform. The key focus of this process was to create an intuitive and engaging platform for all users.

 The software-based delivery of SAS Small Group has many features and efficiency including:

• Further expansion on children’s interest in technology to motivate program engagement.
• Facilitator led child Club Meetings and Parent Group Meetings through live connections within the digital platform supporting delivery in both face-to-face and digital settings.
• Facilitators viewing program progress of each cadet (and the whole group) at any time through SAS Digital HQ Play, Mission completion, Skill Tracker use, and Teacher Tip Sheet review.
• Efficient coordination and communication between SAS Facilitators and each child’s parent/teacher mentors through direct linking, automated notifications, such as automated Teacher Tip sheet distribution and parent prompts.
• Streamlined support for cadets through parent/teacher access to Skill Tracker, Gadget Pack, Club Journal, and Mission Journal.
• New digital tools for both children and facilitators to assist the club meeting process.
• Reduced preparation time with everything integrated and located within the one platform.
• SAS Mentors (parents & teachers) conveniently accessing a digital online portal to review program resources and progress updates.
• Flexibility within the facilitator controls to individualise teaching approach based on a child’s or groups immediate needs during club meetings.
• Opportunities for expanded program reach via tele-health delivery for children or their mentors who are unable to attend face-to-face sessions.
• Continuing to engage children in physical activities, group discussions, and role plays while integrating screen use to either record answers, review content, or to assist in the turn-taking games.
• Less association with ‘school work’ and lost resources due to no longer relying on books and physical gadget items at each session.
• Self-paced online professional training for SAS Facilitators, SAS Assistants, and Senior SAS Facilitators.
• Ongoing and ‘just-in-time’ access to training and SAS Facilitator Manual content at any time.

Yes! The new platform was designed to ensure continued use in a face-to-face setting and has been specifically tailored to streamline program delivery for facilitators, cadets, and adult mentors (teacher/parents).

Children will still be actively engaging in activities during the face-to-face sessions by undertaking physical activities whilst also utilising digital tools during sessions. In a face-to-face child Club Meeting, children use the software to enter in answers and read content just like they do in a physical Cadet Handbook, however they also receive reward tokens, save and view code cards, and participate in interactive games with other cadets.

During Parent Group Meetings, parents view the presentation and additional content on their device. Throughout child Club Meetings device access is the gateway to what we currently know as their Cadet Handbook, Code Card Holder and all the other gadgets! Between sessions cadets and their mentors have easy access to the child’s Skill Tracker, relevant Teacher Tips Sheets, and to review materials in their Parent Meeting Notes and Club Journals.

SAS Small Group Program digital edition does not rely on the requirement of physical resources. The program materials and protocols will continue to be used, however these have been revolutionised to be interactive, engaging and modernised within the platform.

SAS Provider services can continue the physical version using their existing unsued SAS Family Kits. SAS Family Kits are now obsolete and not available for purchase.

The physical SAS E-Telligence Pack  which contains Emotionometers and their corresponding stickers, Relaxation gadget Cards, and Skill Code Cards will continue to be available for purchase in 2021. The pack may be considered as an additional purchase to provide physical reference materials to supplement to the child’s use of the SAS Small Group Program software, if desired.

If clinics and schools have the older physical games and activities they may, from time-to-time, wish to supplement their face-to-face group sessions with the use of various physical items.

Cadets and their mentors (parents and teachers) will access the SAS Small Group program resources and tools through compatible devices. The program is mostly accessed through the internet, with some elements able to be used offline. The online nature of the program means that different devices can be used at different times/locations and a set of loan devices can also be used to assist with access during group meetings. 

• Cadets and their mentors can login using their own secure login from any compatible device to access the program materials.
• Some tools can be accessed quickly through a smart phone at any time.
• Each individual requires access to a suitable device during group meetings.
• Children and their mentors can login from a variety of devices to access the same account and program materials online.

Facilitators will require access to a compatible device to:

• Complete the self-paced online training course
• Establish and manage each SAS group
• Prepare for and lead live club meeting and parent group meeting sessions
• View progress reporting between sessions

Existing SAS Facilitators, trained from 2017 or with access to the current online facilitator portal will be provided  with access to free transition support including brief training experience in preparation for the new digital edition of the SAS Small Group Program.

Existing SAS Facilitators can choose when to transition based on the number of existing family kits at their service.

A variety of SAS Provider subscription packages are available for services of different sizes including flexibility to purchase additional cadet places.

Options will be in place for facilitators to allow direct family payment for software access to assist with funding or rebate processes.

To learn more about the SAS Provider model and subscription pricing, please review the SAS Provider page

A variety of SAS Provider subscription packages are available for services of different sizes including flexibility to purchase additional cadet places.

Options will be in place for facilitators to allow direct family payment for software access to assist with funding or rebate processes.

To learn more about the SAS Provider model and subscription pricing, please review the SAS Provider page.

Pricing for enrolling in the 2021 training can be accessed via the SAS Professional Training page.

The programs core evidence-based content, theoretical framework, therapeutic approaches and program delivery structure is not changing with the release of the digital edition of the SAS Small Group Program.

For an overview of the SAS research please see our webpage “The Evidence”. Here you will find reference to a range of published and active research studies exploring the SAS Small Group Program and its variant programs.

In response to the international shift to delivering SAS via telehealth services, there are at least two teams currently running applied research studies into the telehealth application of SAS.

There is one formal research study out of York University in Canada investigating the practical implementation of SAS Small group by community-based services. This study is looking at both the physical and new digital editions of SAS Small Group resources, including the telehealth delivery of these editions.

The existing evidence base of SAS is ever-growing as different universities and applied researchers explore the application of the program with different cohorts, in different locations, and using different delivery methods.

Yes, the training course will be updated to train professionals in using the digital edition software to deliver the SAS Small Group Program. The self-paced online training course will be live from mid-February 2021, with pre-enrolments now open!

There are now three levels of SAS professional training available: 

• SAS Facilitator -  the equivalent of the current SAS Facilitator Training Course. SAS Facilitators will meet base eligibility criteria, complete the full training experience, and link with subscribed SAS Provider services for system access to run groups with a maximum ration of 1:4 or to be connected with an SAS Facilitator colleague for groups of ratio 2:6. 
• SAS Assistant -  a new role for any adult planning to support an SAS Facilitator in their SAS Small Group delivery. After completing a short introduction to assisting SAS groups, SAS Assistants may be asked to support the lead SAS Facilitator to manage the SAS group process, assist individual literacy or behaviour needs, or navigate turn-taking and token giving during sessions.

Coming Soon!

• Senior SAS Facilitator -  for those SAS Facilitators experienced in running SAS Small Group. Senior SAS Facilitators will have demonstrated their use of best practise, unlocked system functionality to run co-facilitated groups of 1:6 together with an SAS Assistant, and open up pathways to SAS team leadership.

Existing SAS Facilitators, trained from 2017 or with access to the current online facilitator portal will be provided with access to free transition support including brief training experience in preparation for the new digital edition of the SAS Small Group Program.

To learn more about professional training and how to apply, please visit our SAS Professional Training page.

More information on how to setup your organisation as an SAS Provider, please visit our SAS Provider page.

Training in the existing SAS Small Group Program (2^nd edition) is no longer available, except due to special circumstances. 

If you have any questions regarding professional training please contact us at training@sst-institute.net or call on +61 7 37208740

The digital edition of the SAS Small Group Program software will be available by mid-January 2021. With the intergrated self-paced online training units available from mid-February 2021.

In 2021:

• The fast-access online SAS Computer Game Pack will continue to be available for purchase.
• The SAS E-Telligence packs may be considered as an additional supplement to your use of the SAS Small Group Program software, if desired.
• The SAS Posters will be available for a limited time only.
• The SAS Challenger Board Games will be available for a limited time only.
• The physical SAS Computer Game Packs will no longer be available.
• The SAS Combo Pack will no longer be available.