Mental Health in Primary Schools
Children's Voices on Wellbeing
When we are trying to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people, it is important to begin from a shared understanding, grounded in evidence and including children’s voices. One important aspect of children’s voice is to understand the meaning of mental health and wellbeing for the children whose wellbeing we are supporting. Wellbeing for students is usually understood as a multidimensional concept involving a student's emotional, mental, physical and social health, and includes how the student thinks and feels about themselves and their life generally.
Research into the perspectives of over 600 primary and secondary school students across Australia to explore their understanding of 'wellbeing' and the most effective ways to support it (Powell et al.,2018), found that students conceptualised wellbeing through three interconnected domains of 'being', 'having' and 'doing':
Being - Feeling good about oneself, being healthy, and having positive emotions.
Having - Access to supportive relationships, resources, and a safe environment.
Doing - Engaging in meaningful activities, learning, and having opportunities to participate.
Some things we can work on for the ‘Being’ component are:
Nutrition
A healthy outside starts from the inside
Eating a healthy, balanced diet is an important part of maintaining good health, and can help you feel your best. This means eating a wide variety of foods in the right proportions, and consuming the right amount of food and drink to achieve and maintain a healthy body.
Exercise
Play or exercise? A child's body doesn't know the difference
Children need to be active for 60 minutes a day. Sports and active hobbies are a great way to get some exercise. These don't need to take up a lot of time or money. Exercise helps to maintain a healthy mind as well as a healthy body.
Sleep
Sleep is the best meditation
Getting enough sleep is vitally important. Many effects of a lack of sleep, such as feeling grumpy and not working at your best, are well known, but research also shows that regular poor sleep can put you at risk of serious medical conditions, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes and it shortens your life expectancy. It's now clear that a solid night's sleep is essential for a long and healthy life. Turning off devices is recommended at least 60 minutes before bedtime. This "screen-free" hour allows the brain to wind down, stop the suppression of the sleep hormone melatonin caused by blue light, and prepare for better quality sleep.
Recommended Daily Sleep (Including Naps):
Toddlers (1–2 years): 11–14 hours
- Preschoolers (3–5 years): 10–13 hours.
- School-age (5–13 years): 9–11 hours.
- Teens (14–17 years): 8–10 hours
