Many Australian schools implement wellbeing programs throughout their curriculum. Wellbeing is crucial for creating strong minded students. By teaching students a variety of transferrable skills, schools are preparing students for post-school life.
What is wellbeing
NSW Gov education describes wellbeing as the quality of a person’s life. It relates to the experience of feeling good and functioning well. Wellbeing includes cognitive, emotional, social, physical, and spiritual health. Social wellbeing is how well the person interacts with family, school, and community. Emotional wellbeing is how a person can manage their emotions in a healthy way, including how they feel about themselves.
Every aspect of your life influences wellbeing, including the environment and people around you.
Why wellbeing is important
Wellbeing programs in schools provides children with the skills needed for their future. By teaching them these skills when their minds are still young, they are able to form good habits. Teaching good wellbeing habits has many benefits, which builds happier children. Positive characteristics as a result of this include academic achievement, less risky behaviour, and better physical health in adulthood. Better student wellbeing also assists the prevention of depression, suicide, self-harm, low self-esteem and anti-social behaviour.
Shaping students for the future
Good citizens are created in schools. That’s why it’s important for schools to instil positive wellbeing strategies in kids, which they can use in their adult life. Many aspects of school influence a students’ wellbeing. These can include friends, how they spend their breaks, teachers, and what they learn in school. If a school is able to create a positive environment for children to grow in, their wellbeing will flourish. Building relationships create a network they can rely on, which builds social skills while fostering a feeling of belonging. By forming habits in children young, schools are preparing children for a successful future.
NSW Curriculum
According to the NSW government, evidence supports a link between wellbeing and learning. The NSW government have provided a framework for how to implement wellbeing programs in schools. This way, all schools have access to information on how to support good wellbeing in students. The aim of the wellbeing framework is to create teaching and learning environments which enable students to be happy, healthy, engaged, and successful. This is achieved through strengthening the cognitive, physical, social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of the child. This framework helps students connect, succeed, and thrive in their learning. The information is easy to follow, making it easy for schools to plan how they will include wellbeing within students’ learning. This curriculum stays updated to keep up with new research. The NSW government recognises the dynamic nature of wellbeing. With this in mind, they have created a wellbeing framework which is flexible. This means students’ will receive catered wellbeing support.
The department of education has named the five key elements of their Wellbeing Framework as:
Leadership
Inclusion
Student voice
Partnership
Support
Impact on studies
Wellbeing is proven to positively affect student’s learning. Good wellbeing results in an improvement in academic results. According to AITSL (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership Limited), improved outcomes of student wellbeing are positively associated with schooling. Improving the wellbeing of students allows for students to better manage their lives, including their studies. This allows for the child to stay on top of their workload, resulting in better engagement. Reducing factors such as stress impacts the student’s ability to complete their work. Improving academic results boosts self-esteem, which also contributes to good well-being.
Student wellbeing helps to prepare students for the real world by building:
Communication
Communication skills are built during the younger years at school. Being transparent about their emotions from a young age helps them feel heard and understood. This helps to form good habits in adult life, allowing for others to understand you clearly.
Resilience
Wellbeing helps students to bounce back after facing setbacks. This helps them manage stress, which teaches them how to handle challenges in the future.
Problem solving
Problem skills are important in the real world, as they are needed for work and general life problems. A person with strong problem solving skills navigates challenges, and adapts to change.
Stress management
Stress management helps maintain physical and mental health. Effective stress management skills better equips people to handle life’s demands, while performing to the best of their ability. To maintain balance in life, stress management in important.
Emotional management
Effective emotion regulation means people are ready to deal with situations appropriately. It allows for people to respond to a situation calmly, rather than acting on emotion.
Social skills
The sense of belonging which a school provides gives students social skills. These include teamwork, communication, active listening and social awareness.