Feature Article Cognitive aspects of social competence in the current New South Wales Kindergarten to Grade Six Syllabuses Julianne Challita, Christine Chapparo and Joanne Hinitt Discipline of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Background/aim: Occupational therapists are commonly referred children who find reduced social competence a barrier to participation in school activities. Little is known about the social skills expected of children at school and the thinking strategies children use during social interac- tions. This study aimed to investigate the social skills expected of children during school-based learning activities in the current NSW K-6 Syllabuses and the types of cog- nitive strategies expected during social interactions. Methods: A qualitative text-based approach was adopted to explore the range of social skills expected of children at school. A content analysis of text-based data was used to identify specific social skills represented in the current NSW K-6 Syllabuses and the types of cognitive strategies required. Cognitive strategy use items from the PRPP System of Task Analysis were used to identify expected ways of thinking that related to social competence out- comes as stated in the Syllabus. Results: Findings revealed a high number of social skills represented in expected learning outcomes for all six sub- jects included in the analysis. Four categories representing expected social behaviours across the syllabuses were iden- tified: intrapersonal skills: communication by language; interpersonal skills and responding to others. Each desired social competence phrase embedded within syllabus objec- tives aligned with at least one item from the PRPP Sys- tem of Task Analysis. The highest representation of expected strategy use was items from Recall (memory) and Planning (problem solving and evaluating) Quadrants. Conclusion: Investigation into the types of cognitive strategies embedded within Syllabus objectives which relate to social competence can assist therapists more accu- rately target social skills and associated cognitive strate- gies required for occupational performance at school. Findings from the study support the use of the PRPP Sys- tem of Task Analysis for identifying and addressing cogni- tive strategy use during occupational therapy assessment and intervention. KEY WORDS cognitive strategies, curriculum, occupa- tional therapy, social skills, students. Introduction Social competence is a broad multidimensional term used to describe a child’s ability to establish, develop and maintain constructive social relationships (Wight & Chapparo, 2008). Effective social competence at school is defined by a set of social skills that encompass friend- ship making, classroom survival and dealing with feel- ings (Gresham, Sugai & Horner, 2001). Social competence manifests in the smooth sequential use of these skills in a variety of situations to establish pur- poseful social interaction. While social competence is dependent upon many personal and contextual factors, cognition is thought to be a primary determinant (OECD, 2013). Social cognition is the ability to attend to, encode, interpret, plan and execute appropriate social behaviours in an interaction (Case-Smith, 2015). Chil- dren use cognitive strategies (ways of thinking) during any social interaction to plan, carry out, regulate and evaluate the style of interaction required for learning and play. Some children may demonstrate reduced social skills (Carmen & Chapparo, 2012), possibly ema- nating from the same underlying cognitive strategy def- icit that impacts performance of other work and play occupations at school (Fraser et al., 2005). Such children comprise a large multidiagnostic client group that are referred to occupational therapy for support in manag- ing social interactions in the classroom and the play- ground (Olson, 2010). However, many children do not Julianne Challita BAppSc (OT) Hons; PhD Candidate. Christine Chapparo PhD, MA, DipOT; Senior Lecturer. Joanne Hinitt PhD, BAppSc (OT) Hons.; Lecturer. Correspondence: Julianne Challita, Discipline of Occupa- tional Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, 2006, Australia. Email: jcha1190@uni.sydney.edu.au Conflict of interest statement Authors have no conflicts to declare. Accepted for publication 15 July 2018. © 2018 Occupational Therapy Australia Australian Occupational Therapy Journal (2018) doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12509