Wellbeing

Visible Wellbeing

Visible Wellbeing is an innovative approach designed to enhance the mental health and overall wellbeing of both students and staff within educational settings. Developed by Professor Lea Waters, this approach integrates positive psychology into everyday school practices, making wellbeing a visible and tangible part of the school environment.

At the heart of Visible Wellbeing is the SEARCH framework, which stands for Strengths, Emotional Management, Attention and Awareness, Relationships, Coping, and Habits and Goals. This framework provides a comprehensive structure for understanding and promoting wellbeing. Each component of SEARCH focuses on different aspects of psychological health, helping individuals to recognise and build on their strengths, manage their emotions effectively, maintain attention and awareness, foster positive relationships, develop coping strategies, and set and achieve meaningful goals.

The vision for bringing in Visible Wellbeing to our School stems from our desire to prioritise the holistic development of our students and staff. We’ve always been committed to nurturing not just academic success, but personal growth and emotional wellbeing too. Visible Wellbeing gives us a structured, evidence-based way to bring that vision to life. It helps us strengthen our culture of care, making wellbeing something we actively teach, notice, and grow in our day-to-day environment.

Therefore, as part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing the wellbeing of both staff and students, staff recently embarked on the Visible Wellbeing training journey. This approach equips everyone with an evidenced-based toolkit designed to help them thrive, ensuring they feel and function at their best.

During the training, we delved into the current mental health and stress levels among young people. We explored the illbeing-wellbeing spectrum, a tool for self-assessing our mental health, and examined how other schools support their communities to enhance wellbeing.

Our staff engaged in the "See Hear Feel" practice, which focuses on making wellbeing visible through physical, visual, and auditory cues. This practice helps us understand how we and others are feeling in the moment, enabling us to make informed choices that boost and sustain higher levels of wellbeing. 

Our hope is that Visible Wellbeing becomes part of who we are—not just a program, but a way of thinking and being. We envision a school culture where strengths are recognised and celebrated, where wellbeing is woven into teaching and learning, and where students and staff feel equipped to handle life’s challenges with resilience and optimism. Over time, we believe this will shape a more connected, compassionate, and empowered community.