To nurture the skills of resilience is key to providing young people with the ability to cope with stress, adversity, failure and challenges. Resilience is evident when young people have a greater ability to “bounce back” when faced with difficulties and achieve positive outcomes.
Resilience empowers an individual to recognise that everyone has physical and mental health and that mental health can move between healthy and poor, dependent on an individual’s circumstances. It empowers a person to recognise poor mental health in themselves and others and be aware of support that is available.
It is widely recognised that a child’s emotional health and wellbeing influences their cognitive development and learning, as well as their physical and social health and their mental wellbeing in adulthood.
In an average class of 30 15-year-old pupils:
- three could have a mental disorder
- ten are likely to have witnessed their parents separate
- one could have experienced the death of a parent
- seven are likely to have been bullied
- six may be self-harming
The Department for Education (DfE) recognises that: “in order to help their pupils succeed; schools have a role to play in supporting them to be resilient and mentally healthy”. Moreover schools have a duty to promote the wellbeing of students. DfE also identifies a whole-school approach to promoting good mental health as a protective factor for child and adolescent mental health. Although schools and colleges play a significant and valuable role in helping to promote student emotional health and wellbeing, their contribution should be considered as one element of a wider multi-agency approach.
The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce recommends that schools assign a lead on mental health issues who would be responsible for linking schools with expertise, identifying issues and making referrals.
Source – DfE
By the end of primary school students should be able to
- Explain what is meant by the term ‘mental health’.
- Identify everyday behaviours that can help to support mental (and physical) health.
- Recognise that we can take care of our mental health (as well as our physical health).
Source – PSHE Association