Child Safeguarding
MENTAL HEALTH IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS (MHIPS)
a message from our St Liborius Team (Darby Walsh, Lisa Patterson)
When you hear the term Mental Health, what do you think about? Do you know much about what it means? Do you avoid talking about this topic out of fear of previous ideas you’ve had which may imply that you are not in control or not coping?
As parents we are so desperate to ensure that are children are thriving - physically, socially and emotionally. We spend so much time trying to protect them; protect them from getting hurt, protect them from embarrassment, protect them from bad experiences.
We naturally do this instinctively, fiercely, lovingly.
However, if we want our children to thrive, how can we help them develop the necessary resilience?
The answer is - we develop resilience by doing hard things. We need to support them from the sidelines with help, strategies and advice, but the age-appropriate experiences are their own to have and learn from.
How can we help? We can improve our own knowledge of what mental health, wellbeing and resilience means.
The World Health Organisation uses these definitions:
- Mental health is a state of mental wellbeing that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.
- Wellbeing encompasses quality of life and the ability of people and societies to contribute to the world with a sense of meaning and purpose.
Resilience is related to processes and skills that influence good individual and community health outcomes, in spite of negative events, serious threats and hazards.
Consider the diagram below when thinking about your child’s Mental Health. Each component has been identified as a key concept to positive child wellbeing. Most of these we do automatically, but is there one aspect where you could focus your attention for a week?
(Adapted from ARACY, 2013)
For instance, consider the Learning component, it is defined by ARACY as;
4. Learning
Learning is a lifelong process. Children and young people learn through formal and informal experiences within the classroom and in their homes and communities. Children's wellbeing is enhanced when they participate in and experience an education that enables them to reach their full potential and maximise their life opportunities.
Can you try to engage more consciously in conversations about what they have learnt at school that day or experiences they have had? Help them to develop these by having discussions about how these skills can be transferred at home or how you have experienced this topic. For example - if they are learning about addition, talk about how you use this concept when you go shopping, or better yet, model this when you are out shopping with them.
These micro-moments are all working towards developing their wellbeing and helping to transfer knowledge they have learnt at school into different contexts. Give it a go!
