Wellbeing in Scoil Naomh Iósaf
Staff and Pupil Wellbeing
The Staff in Scoil Naomh Iosaf place a significant emphasis on the wellbeing of both staff and pupils and our school is warm and welcoming.
To ensure their physical wellbeing, we have a variety of fun activities for the children to take part in. These include, Zumba on Wednesday mornings, GAA coaching for all classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and two timetabled slots each week on the school Playground.
To ensure the pupils' mental health and wellbeing, we also have a range of activities and programmes in place.
The Mindful Heart Curriculum will be taught in as many classes as possible this year. The Mindful Heart curriculum introduces mindfulness and self-compassion practices to children using fun, creative and child friendly activities, including mindfulness stories, workbook pages, guided meditation and mindful moments. The curriculum also focuses on supporting teachers to develop their own mindfulness and self-compassion practice. The Mindful Heart Curriculum is aligned with the SPHE curriculum and is perfect support for our school as we aim to promote positive mental health and wellbeing for both our pupils and staff alike.
Friends For Life is being taught in second and third classes this year. ‘FRIENDS for Life’ is a school-based positive mental health programme that promotes emotional resilience and reduces anxiety in children.
All classes also teach the Weaving Wellbeing programme. Weaving Wellbeing gives children the opportunity to weave positivity into their daily lives through a range of activities in a variety of areas. These areas include identifying and using their authentic character strengths, boosting positive emotions, developing and nurturing positive relationships and connections, building practical resilience skills (including mindfulness) and developing self-efficacy through empowering beliefs.
All class also have mindful moment breaks and physical activity breaks such as Go Noodle or dance - keeping the mind, heart and body healthy and happy.
Staff wellbeing is also important and Ms. Casey organised a number of staff hikes in the Wicklow mountains to give the staff an opportunity for team building, physical activity and fun!
To ensure their physical wellbeing, we have a variety of fun activities for the children to take part in. These include, Zumba on Wednesday mornings, GAA coaching for all classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and two timetabled slots each week on the school Playground.
To ensure the pupils' mental health and wellbeing, we also have a range of activities and programmes in place.
The Mindful Heart Curriculum will be taught in as many classes as possible this year. The Mindful Heart curriculum introduces mindfulness and self-compassion practices to children using fun, creative and child friendly activities, including mindfulness stories, workbook pages, guided meditation and mindful moments. The curriculum also focuses on supporting teachers to develop their own mindfulness and self-compassion practice. The Mindful Heart Curriculum is aligned with the SPHE curriculum and is perfect support for our school as we aim to promote positive mental health and wellbeing for both our pupils and staff alike.
Friends For Life is being taught in second and third classes this year. ‘FRIENDS for Life’ is a school-based positive mental health programme that promotes emotional resilience and reduces anxiety in children.
All classes also teach the Weaving Wellbeing programme. Weaving Wellbeing gives children the opportunity to weave positivity into their daily lives through a range of activities in a variety of areas. These areas include identifying and using their authentic character strengths, boosting positive emotions, developing and nurturing positive relationships and connections, building practical resilience skills (including mindfulness) and developing self-efficacy through empowering beliefs.
All class also have mindful moment breaks and physical activity breaks such as Go Noodle or dance - keeping the mind, heart and body healthy and happy.
Staff wellbeing is also important and Ms. Casey organised a number of staff hikes in the Wicklow mountains to give the staff an opportunity for team building, physical activity and fun!
Mindfulness and Mental Health Resources for Children and Parents
Barnardos
*New Barnardos Dedicated Helpline: Phone: 1800 910 123 between 10.00am and 2.00pm – Monday to Friday or by emailing [email protected]
Barnardos have a section on Resources for Parents entitled Heart, Body and Mind which can be accessed at this link.
https://www.barnardos.ie/how-you-can-help/fundraising/covid-19-crisis-appeal-for-children/heart-body-and-mind?mc_cid=dd9abaa1f3&mc_eid=1dd7612eba
Niall Breslin
Niall Breslin (aka Bressie) is doing a lot of work to support both children and adults in the area of wellbeing and mental health and has a number of podcasts available. https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/where-is-my-mind/id1470956619
He is involved with Therapy Hub, which offers free access to therapist and counsellors online.
https://www.therapyhub.ie/
He also does meditation for children daily at 5pm on his Instagram page which is recorded and uploaded onto his Facebook page.
Rainbows Ireland
The Rainbows Ireland website has links to many useful resources in the area of bereavement, funerals during Covid 19, talking about Corona Virus, challenges to separated parents during Corona Virus etc.
https://www.rainbowsireland.ie/
Weaving Wellbeing Programme
The Weaving Wellbeing Programme which is a resource we use in school can be accessed online.
There is a free activity journal entitled ‘At Home with Weaving Wellbeing’ on the website. Most of the topics in the FREE journal, such as positivity, gratitude, kindness, bravery, creativity and self-kindness, are drawn from the field of Positive Psychology, which is the science of well-being. There are also activities based on dealing with worries and coping with change. https://www.otb.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/At-Home-with-Weaving-Well-being-A-Mental-Health-Journal-for-Kids.pdf
Other Resources:
https://www.cosmickids.com/category/watch/
https://www.mindfulnessmatters.ie/
https://www.pdst.ie/primary/healthwellbeing/relaxationandself-regulationtools
Barnardos
*New Barnardos Dedicated Helpline: Phone: 1800 910 123 between 10.00am and 2.00pm – Monday to Friday or by emailing [email protected]
Barnardos have a section on Resources for Parents entitled Heart, Body and Mind which can be accessed at this link.
https://www.barnardos.ie/how-you-can-help/fundraising/covid-19-crisis-appeal-for-children/heart-body-and-mind?mc_cid=dd9abaa1f3&mc_eid=1dd7612eba
Niall Breslin
Niall Breslin (aka Bressie) is doing a lot of work to support both children and adults in the area of wellbeing and mental health and has a number of podcasts available. https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/where-is-my-mind/id1470956619
He is involved with Therapy Hub, which offers free access to therapist and counsellors online.
https://www.therapyhub.ie/
He also does meditation for children daily at 5pm on his Instagram page which is recorded and uploaded onto his Facebook page.
Rainbows Ireland
The Rainbows Ireland website has links to many useful resources in the area of bereavement, funerals during Covid 19, talking about Corona Virus, challenges to separated parents during Corona Virus etc.
https://www.rainbowsireland.ie/
Weaving Wellbeing Programme
The Weaving Wellbeing Programme which is a resource we use in school can be accessed online.
There is a free activity journal entitled ‘At Home with Weaving Wellbeing’ on the website. Most of the topics in the FREE journal, such as positivity, gratitude, kindness, bravery, creativity and self-kindness, are drawn from the field of Positive Psychology, which is the science of well-being. There are also activities based on dealing with worries and coping with change. https://www.otb.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/At-Home-with-Weaving-Well-being-A-Mental-Health-Journal-for-Kids.pdf
Other Resources:
https://www.cosmickids.com/category/watch/
https://www.mindfulnessmatters.ie/
https://www.pdst.ie/primary/healthwellbeing/relaxationandself-regulationtools
