Well-Being
Definition of Mental Health and Well-Being
We use the World Health Organisation’s definition of mental health and wellbeing:
“… a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”
Our Rationale
Mental well-being affects everyone, but it may mean different things to different people. Mental well-being affects how people grow and develop; it influences how they cope with normal stresses of life, how they work and the way in which they participate in family and community life. Mental well-being is an important area of health and wellbeing as it determines both overall health and happiness. Individual mental well-being comprises a number of elements, which if impacted on negatively can throw individual mental wellbeing off balance and can lead to mental ill health.
Different aspects of mental well-being include factors such self-esteem, self-belief, emotional intelligence, sense of purpose, social connections and stigma. Our Wellbeing Strategy aims to support our approach to promoting positive mental health and well-being for all our school community.
Our Whole School Approach
Our whole school approach recognises that every aspect of the life of the school can impact on our health and well-being and all of those within the school community; learners, teachers and support staff. At St Robert’s we acknowledge that the environment and ethos of the school is just as important as our curriculum and policies.
Our strategy considers all aspects of need; from universal approaches to promote good wellbeing and mental health, to a more targeted approach for those individuals with greater needs. We utilise and have developed effective working partnerships between outside agencies to provide specialist advice and support.
Pupil Wellbeing
To support well-being as a school we do:
· Wellbeing Survey—HAPPEN for whole school understanding of trends. Individual pupil wellbeing survey carried out with year 4 upwards;
· SHINE Project—Early Support for pupil mental health (Pre CAHMS);
· Classroom Climate—clear expectations for behaviour and well established routines;
· Positive relationship—Pupil to pupils, pupil to staff and staff to staff;
· Staff are aware of family histories of pupils and the school is close-knit community;
· Interventions including ELSA. Staff know pupils and are able to provide support and strategies to check in with them;
Resources to Support Wellbeing at Home
It is important that you look after your own and your children's physical and mental wellbeing. Children with high levels of wellbeing are better learners. Below you will find more information on how you and your family can take care of yourselves and have fun!
Change for life provides a variety of advice for families with children, from healthy eating to increasing exercise.
Cosmic Kids provides yoga and mindfulness videos for children.
Further ways to support well-being and mental health:
14 days challenge/daily activities
This is a useful guide to share with your children if you want to talk to them about Mental Health.