Wellbeing

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What is Wellbeing?

"Wellbeing is present when a person realises their potential, is resilient in dealing with the normal stresses of their life, takes care of their physical wellbeing and has a sense of purpose, connection and belonging to a wider community. It is a fluid way of being and needs nurturing throughout life".

Wellbeing is at the core of the Framework for Junior Cycle. This new framework places the student at the centre of the educational experience through teaching, learning, assessment and reporting practices. It is concerned with nurturing students’ wellbeing through the provision of curricular and extra-curricular experiences. Wellbeing includes social, emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual and environmental aspects. Learning in wellbeing focuses on the students’ journey across all aspects of wellbeing. The indicators above describe what is important for young people’s wellbeing. These indicators are not seen as goals or targets to be reached. The journey towards wellbeing is never complete.

Why Wellbeing Matters

Each of the day-to-day interactions that take place in a school can impact on students’ wellbeing. Therefore, everyone can play a part in supporting wellbeing. Students have a right to feel cared for in schools. Developing good relationships in the classroom and throughout the school are essential for students’ wellbeing and for effective teaching and learning. When students feel included, respected and listened to, they are more ready to learn and more successful in their learning.

That said, we also know that students who have higher levels of wellbeing tend to have better academic outcomes in school. Irish research (ESRI, 2015) has found that ‘children with higher levels of emotional, behavioural, social and school wellbeing had higher levels of academic achievement subsequently (at ages 11, 14, and 16)’. This finding is echoed in international research published by the OECD, which reveals a positive correlation between a sense of belonging at school, satisfaction with life, and academic performance (OECD, 2017).

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Wellbeing in Schools - what it looks like...

The Junior Cycle Wellbeing programme in schools is 400 hours of time-tabled learning for all students over their three years of Junior Cycle. At Calasanctius College our wellbeing programme is built on the following four pillars:

PE
SPHE
CSPE
Guidance Education

In senior cycle students build on their prior learning and experiences from Junior Cycle. Senior cycle wellbeing focuses on supporting learners to make informed choices for health and wellbeing now, and into the future. We concentrate on what is important for learners in senior cycle to know, understand and be able to do in order to make and maintain healthy lifestyle decisions.

In addition to wellbeing within the curriculum, we have developed a varied and broad programme of extra-curricular activities and events which we include under the heading of 'other areas of learning' (OALs) in our wellbeing programme. These are related to aspects of wellbeing specifically designed to meet the needs and interests of our students. Our Wellbeing co-ordinator works with our dedicated team of teachers and students to promote and coordinate these events and activities throughout the year.