Wellbeing at The Harold
Wellbeing is woven into the fabric of everyday school life at the Harold to develop happy rounded children.
Our Mental Health Mind Map which is on display in our school hall.
Schools in Ireland play a vital role in the promotion of wellbeing through a range of activities and approaches to support the academic, physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual development of all children and young people.
Our school does this through our ongoing work in the area of Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework and Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum.
SPHE
Social, Personal and Health Education is central to pupil development and is an essential part of the school curricula. Pupils are helped to develop social and personal skills, to develop self-confidence, self-awareness and self-esteem. They learn positive communication and listening skills and how to build and maintain healthy relationships.
Student Council
Our school has a Student Council to ensure that the voices of children are heard and that we work together to develop and improve our school structures.
Mindfulness
Regular mindfulness practice has been proven to enhance self-confidence and thus improve self-esteem leading to richer relationships at home and with peers, which in turn results in greater happiness and contentment. Belly breathing, guided meditation, journaling and brain breaks are provided for children in various classes throughout the school.
Weaving Wellbeing
We use the Weaving Wellbeing programme as a resource throughout the school.
Weaving Well-Being is the first Irish designed positive mental health programme of its kind which aims to enhance well-being in children aged from 8-12 years.
This affordable Positive Education programme consists of 10 lessons for each class level and is grounded in evidence-based interventions from the rapidly expanding field of Positive Psychology. Positive Psychology is the science of well-being. It is underpinned by the concept that a state of well-being is not simply the absence of the negative, but the presence of the positive.
Positive Interactions
We promote positive interactions through our pupil ‘goals for the year’. Every pupil is encouraged to work towards a personal goal each month. Pupils who have made a special effort are celebrated at our monthly assemblies.
Positive relationships are central to the way that the school takes care of the social and emotional needs of everyone who learns, works and visits our school. Our school policies set out how the school manages issues relating to child protection, discipline, anti-bullying communication and behaviour. We involve parents, school personnel and management in policy planning and development. The nurturing of ongoing partnerships with parents/guardians is essential as the family is the primary influence on a child’s life.
An example of the ‘Empowering Beliefs’ in the 6th class ‘Weaving Wellbeing’ programme.
Physical Wellbeing
The Harold School promotes physical wellbeing through our Physical Education curriculum, our school teams, our Active school committee, our School Sports’ Days.
Pupils engage in a range of activities such as athletics, gymnastics, GAA, hurling, swimming. At certain times of the year teachers may assign ‘Active homework’ which encourages and fosters participation in some form of exercise/sport/board games. Our school has been awarded the ‘Active Flag’ for fostering physical wellbeing in school and home life. Basketball, GAA, Olympic handball, Yoga, Ballet, Irish dancing, Hockey are offered as extra-curricular activities.
Music plays an important part in the fabric of our school life.
The pupils participate in many events throughout the school year. Every class is involved in a musical performance at Christmas. Pupils in the Junior classes participate in Music workshops. The pupils enjoy preparing for the annual talent show where students are encouraged to showcase their creative talents. From time to time pupils attend concerts/performances in the locality.
Our 5th and 6th classes perform in The National Children’s Choir - have a look at their final performance in the video.
Our education system is key to equipping children and young people with the knowledge, skills and competencies to deal with challenges that impact on their wellbeing.
Our school endeavours to help our pupils to realise their potential, to be resilient in dealing with the normal stresses of their lives, to take care of their physical wellbeing and to have a sense of purpose, connection and belonging to their wider community, including their school community.