Student Wellbeing

Mental health basics: Suggestions for families

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend a three day workshop and conference in Sydney- “Student Bullying and Mental Wellbeing”. The purpose of the conference was to examine research focusing on reducing the incidence of bullying and related mental health risks, as well as hearing about successful evidence-based programs currently running in schools across the country. During Semester two, the Wellbeing Teams in both the Senior and Preparatory Schools, are meeting to look forward to 2019; what do we currently do that works well? What do we need to review? What policies need to be updated?  What will be best practice for the students in our school? These three days will be invaluable in helping start to guide this process.

One of the key messages for me was practical ways that families can support children’s resilience in the face of challenging circumstances. It is usually not possible to eliminate all the risk factors that affect your children, but there are things families can do to reduce the impact of stress and help children build strengths for effective coping. All the research and programs presented at the conference had at their basis simple, general and practical suggestions for families. Suggestions included:

• Spend time with your children and do things together as a family.
• Try to maintain routines as much as possible. Routines and consistency help children feel secure.
• Build and maintain supportive relationships with your children’s teachers. Talk with staff about how they can best support you and your child during hard times. Tell staff about any concerning behaviours you are noticing at home. In the Preparatory School most matters of student care and welfare are dealt with through the classroom teacher. In the Secondary School the Tutor houses form the basis for student welfare and behaviour management within the school, and issues that may arise should be discussed with a student’s Tutor as the first point of contact.
• Try to help children to understand and manage their feelings; this can help them develop coping skills.
• Help them also to understand that loss and stress are a normal part of life; this is a particularly important point.
• Acknowledge children’s feelings and try to understand and respect them, especially when they are going through a difficult time. Take time to listen to their concerns.

Sometimes in our busy day-to-day existence it is easy to overlook the simple, basic things that make a real difference in our families lives.

Mrs Emma Bylsma

Head of Student Wellbeing