The importance of wellbeing

By Ian Smith-Childs, headteacher, the Coleshill School

Wellbeing is a big term, what does it mean and why is it important?

We hear it on the news every day, “We should eat this, we shouldn’t eat that.”, “We need to cut down on this and we must do more of that.” Sometimes there is so much advice it seems easier to just switch off. However, when it comes to our children we know the importance of a focus on well-being and health.  At The Coleshill School we are developing our Wellbeing and Mental Health strategy to try and support students and their families in the growing issues with both physical and mental health.  We know that the number of young people with mental health issues is on the rise and we see this every day in the students that we teach and care for.

It can sometimes seem daunting when we try to think of solutions for this growing problem.  However, often it is the little things that make a difference and small changes in lifestyle or approach that can make the biggest difference.   For example, all students have been doing PSHE in tutor time. Year 9 have been learning about health and wellbeing and one thing that has been highlighted in these sessions is the large volume of students who do not eat breakfast. Breakfast is an important meal and can have significant benefits for young people including having more energy, feeling more focused and alert in class and being able to concentrate more.  If we can encourage students to eat a good breakfast before school or to get something at school then they can start the day in the best possible way. A good breakfast can include cereal, porridge, toast, yoghurt and fruit, eggs, beans or a smoothie.

An active lifestyle is something we really promote at The Coleshill School.  We aim to have activities for students to get involved with in order to support their physical fitness, which in turn helps their mental well-being. We are proud to have Sports Mark Gold; this is due to the hundreds of students doing extra-curricular sport throughout the week, from basketball before school, to football at lunch time and our sports teams and events after school. There are also other clubs and events such as dance, Duke of Edinburgh and the annual school production which helps students remain active beyond the classroom.  It is never too late to sign up to one of our clubs and get active!

We pride ourselves on our pastoral care and students should know there is always someone that they can talk to. Our Year Leaders and Student Support team are available all day every day to talk to students about issues they are having.  We also have a school counsellor, as well as staff who are trained to listen to students who have concerns. We have an increasing number of staff who have Mental Health First Aid training and will be training more.  We have access to the School Nursing service as well as a range of other professionals. There is a staff working party for Wellbeing and Mental Health and they are constantly exploring new ways of supporting the students.

Young people sometimes want to get advice and support from other young people and so we have a variety of peer mentor programmes.  For students who have concerns around bullying or social issues we have our “Hope” mentors who have been trained to listen and support them, as well as how to seek help when needed. In our older year groups we have peer mentors from our Sixth Form to talk about study skills and managing exam stress. We have found that peer mentoring has helped a number of students to talk about their issues, before they grow into something that becomes a bigger problem.

You will hear more about our well-being strategy over the course of the year, in the meantime I hope that you are able to enjoy some sunshine and fresh air over the weekend.