Views & Opinion
Developing resilience and empowering learners Comment by Dr ASHA PATEL, CEO of education not-for-profit Innovating Minds
Schools will be expected to deliver relationships education from September and RSHE will be a powerful way of promoting good mental health. The Department of Education has provided a curriculum but this will need to be contextualised and made relevant to individual settings. Some schools have been finding it hard to get children back into the classroom; others may be dealing with children who are glad to be back with their friends but have been affected by domestic abuse during lockdown.
Promoting a whole school approach Public Health England have identified Eight Principles Of Well-Being : • Leadership and management that supports and champions efforts to promote emotional health and well-being • An ethos an environment that promotes respect and values diversity • Targeted support and appropriate referral • Working with parents and carers • Identifying needs and monitoring impact of interventions • Staff development to support their own well-being and that of students • Enabling student voice to influence decisions • Curriculum teaching and learning to promote resilience and support social and emotional learning
Teachers can help by creating an atmosphere of positivity and support.
One starting point is to improve the learning environment and make sure it is a place where learners feel safe, able to express themselves. Schools can change the narrative by recognising when students make positive decisions, such as studying hard for a test, and by acknowledging acts of kindness, when students help a classmate, or show compassion and understanding.
What schools are doing Framwellgate School Durham has peer mentoring schemes and anti- bullying ambassadors. It has commissioned a social enterprise to run inspirational workshops with the students which focus on personal, social and employability skills. The Haven is an integrated health centre that is co-located and managed by Budehaven Community School. A student management group was involved in setting-up and running the Haven and the management group has representation from young people of all ages, including sixth formers. Involving young people in this way helps to identify with the aims and successes of the centre. Some schools use assemblies for topics such as eating disorders, drugs
or radicalisation. This can be effective, especially if there is an outside speaker who provides personal testimony. But there is a danger that it can become a presentation or a tick box exercise. It works better if schools provide opportunities for discussions, for example in RSHE lessons, Health & Social Care or when studying texts in English Literature classes. Other opportunities will occur naturally throughout the year for
example, 11 – 17 May, Mental Health Awareness Week and World Mental Health Day on 10 October Eating Disorders Awareness Week 1-7 March, Time to Talk Day - 4 February, Stress Awareness Month in April, OCD Awareness Week 11-17 October, World Suicide Prevention Day on
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www.education-today.co.uk 10 September 2021.
Developing resilience Schools will need to choose appropriate resources and approaches. Some students may appear passive in class. This may be a reaction to stringent disciplinary codes in schools or an atmosphere that is not conducive to risk taking. Many pupils want to get the 'right answer' and do not engage in the wider issues. A solution can be group work where students exchange ideas, get different perspectives and become more independent. As with other areas of the curriculum, differentiation will be important. Some learners need more time than others to reflect, some need different stimuli such as videos and many will need to discuss issues and perhaps share examples, not necessarily from their own personal experience but from acquaintances and family friends. Innovating Minds recently hosted a webinar, Mental health and the
curriculum with Anna Bateman of Halcyon Education. Anna talked about helping pupils – whether primary or secondary - to develop the language and confidence to seek help for themselves or on behalf of others. Children often have a narrow range of words to describe their
emotions: 'happy', 'angry', 'sad', 'bored'. One tool Anna recommended was Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions. This starts with just seven basic emotions and opens out to some 130 words describing different shades of feeling. Access to these words helps children to pinpoint feelings more accurately so a child who is sad may be able to define their mood as feeling lonely, victimised, powerless or guilty. This takes them closer to the root of their feelings.
They need to learn to step back so they do not rush into actions they
may later regret and take the time to see a problem form different angles and from other people's perspectives. Longer term this will help young people to develop self-knowledge, an awareness of their strengths and weaknesses and give them the confidence to try and solve their own problems, They will also develop empathy and build better relationships with others. All young people need to be prepared to take appropriate risks and to see failure as a part of life and an opportunity to learn and grow.
For more information on this and other mental health topics, go to
https://www.innovatingmindscic.com/The mental health and he curriculum webinar is available at
https://www.myedupod.com/mental- health-and-the-curriculum
September 2021
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