Parent Corner

Deputy Principal - Student Development and Wellbeing

Welcome to the first edition of Parent Corner for 2021. For those of you who are new to the benefits of Parent Corner, you will be pleased to know that these editions, which come out once a month, are focussed on providing advice on raising a well young person.  The Pastoral Guardians will hone their articles around the central theme of each edition, while responding to the needs of their particular year level.  Because the theme for this week will introduce you to Why Wellbeing Matters, you will receive some handy hints from your relevant Pastoral Guardian on how you can best support the wellbeing of your child so that they can achieve their potential and more.

 

Let’s begin with a definition of what we are talking about when we refer to Wellbeing. Sometimes we may be mistaken to think that it centres only in the mental health domain but, as you will see, there are so many pillars on which we base wellbeing - each one having a major impact on both mental health and academic performance.

 

What is Wellbeing?

“Wellbeing is a state in which every individual realises their potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to their community” (World health Organisation, 2014).  It is further explained by Nobel et al (2008), as a sustainable state of positive mood and attitude, resilience, and satisfaction with self, relationships, and experiences at school.  It is not a constant state of being happy.

 

An analysis of Australian and Overseas research and literature (Nobel & Wyatt, 2010) indicates that positive student wellbeing leads to increased engagement, increased motivation, increased attendance, a decrease in problematic behaviour and, therefore, an increase in academic achievement.  It also contributes to positive mental health and pro-social and responsible lifestyles choices.

 

Mount Alvernia’s Wellbeing Framework

Pope Francis reminds us that “young people are not meant to become discouraged; they are meant to dream great things, to seek vast horizons, to aim higher, to take on the world, to accept challenge and to offer the best of themselves to the building of something better”. (2014)

 

At Mount Alvernia, we believe that student wellbeing is strongly linked to learning, and that the level of wellbeing at school will be indicated by a satisfaction with life at school, an engagement with learning, and positive social-emotional behaviour. 

 

Mount Alvernia’s Wellbeing Framework identifies the following domains as important areas in achieving positive wellbeing: 

  • Psychological Wellbeing – the ability to lead self; understand how to work with one’s surroundings, both physical and human; be able to build positive relations with others; have a sense of purpose in life; and be aware of and accept who they are (Ryff, C, 2005)
  • Physical Wellbeing – is associated with the extent to which we feel physically safe and healthy and includes: nutrition; rest and recharge; sleep; physical activity; preventative health care; and security (NT Department of Education, 2018).
  • Mental Wellbeing – is our capacity to respond to life’s ups and downs and includes how a person thinks, handles emotion, and acts (Beyond Blue, 2019).
  • Spiritual Wellbeing – the ability to experience and integrate meaning and purpose in life through a connectedness with self, others, art, music, literature, nature, or a power greater than oneself.
  • Financial Wellbeing - Financial wellbeing is the extent to which a person is able to meet current commitments comfortably and have the financial resilience to maintain this into the future.  “Financial health and mental health are intrinsically linked.  The state of our mental health and wellbeing can make it harder to get on top of our finances and can lead to experiences of financial stress which can then further impact our mental health” (Beyond Blue, 2020).
  • Social/Cultural Wellbeing – is recognised in how a person communicates, interacts, and socialises with other people, how they make friends and develop a sense of belonging in a multicultural society that enshrines freedom from discrimination and promotes cultural practices, belief, and customs.
  • Cognitive Wellbeing – is seen when a student has a commitment to lifelong learning through self-directed behaviour that promotes continuous acquisition and creative application of new skills and abilities (Hettler, 1976) (Strout & Howard, 2015).

A wellbeing program should therefore contribute to each of these aspects and reflect the contextual needs of the college community.  Evidence from school psychologists, pastoral care agents, the parent community, students, parent and staff surveys, and student behaviour are at the forefront of decisions contributing to the College’s wellbeing program.  For this reason, you will see from my weekly Insights (into our wellbeing program), to be advertised in Notices on the college app, that what we are doing in our Personal Development Program is just one way of ensuring that Mount Alvernia provides strategies for the enhancement of individual wellbeing. 

 

Enhancing your child’s wellbeing cannot - and should not - be totally dependent on the College.  When you read the advice provided by your relevant Pastoral Guardians it is because we know that you will work in partnership with us and your children to assist them in acquiring the necessary skills to deal with the normal ups and downs of life.  There is no journey that provides a free ride from the normal stresses of life, and it is a responsibility of all of us to equip our young people with the tools to be resilient, resourceful, and persistent when things are not going the way in which we would hope. 

 

Annette Butterworth