Student Wellbeing

What is child mental health?

Mental health, like physical health, is something everyone has. It starts developing before we are born and keeps developing and changing over our lifetime.

Some people and organisations use the term ‘mental health’ to mean mental health difficulties or mental illness. Mental health isn’t just about not feeling well or having trouble coping with challenges.

When we talk about children’s mental health we mean all the elements of a child’s emotional, psychological and social wellbeing.

Mental health includes how children:

• think and feel – about themselves and others
• behave and interact
• form relationships
• learn, and
• play

Through our work with the Resilience Project we practice and remember to support students by continuing to be grateful, showing empathy for others and living in the moment. This is something that we explicitly teach to ensure students are building a catalogue of strategies to support their mental health and those around them.

RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS CHALLENGE

For the next week, challenge yourself to do one kind thing each day. Again, it can be as simple as complimenting a friend, offering to help someone with their homework or even sending a thank you note to a teacher or family member. Get creative, and think of ways you can show kindness to the people around you to make their day.

As part of the Resilience Project we encourage our students to show kindness through simple acts.

Regards

Jenny Willmott

jwillmott@sjvmulgrave.catholic.edu.au

Deputy Principal/ Student Wellbeing Leader