This week is well being week in St. Declan’s. Well-being focuses on developing our children as a person. It has two main elements: psychological well-being (including feeling and thinking) and physical well-being. Children’s relationships and interactions with their families and communities contribute significantly to their sense of well-being. Children need to feel valued, respected, empowered, cared for, and included. They also need to respect themselves, others, and their environment. They become positive about themselves and their learning when adults value them for who they are and when they promote warm and supportive relationships with them. Expressing themselves creatively and experiencing a spiritual dimension in life enhances children’s sense of well-being. Life is full of challenges and struggles. Therefore, being flexible and having a positive outlook on learning and on life is crucial. All these experiences help children to become resilient and resourceful and to learn to cope with change and situations in which things go wrong. Physical well-being is important for learning and development as this enables children to explore, to investigate, and to challenge themselves in the environment. A growing awareness of their bodies and abilities is also part of this. We can support children’s psychological and physical well-being by helping them to make healthy choices about nutrition, hygiene and exercise. We can help provide opportunities for children to express themselves, to encourage them to play and work with others, and to deal with challenges. As teachers and parents we can guide children towards independence by providing them with choice in their activities, and by providing opportunities for them to make decisions and to take the lead.

Philip and Alannah from our Students Council spoke to everyone on the intercom this morning. They had the following message…………………………

Philip

This week is well being week in St. Declan’s. Well being is the ability to feel good about yourself and to stay healthy and happy. This is not only physically but mentally too. Most  people want the same things. We like being included, learning, taking risks and experiencing success, having friends who value and accept us, and feeling confident about ourselves.

There are many activities that we can do to improve and maintain our physical and mental wellbeing.  Sometimes it’s hard to find the time and energy to look after ourselves. Here is a few simple ways to help improve our well being.  We can all do these things.

Alannah

Connect with other people. Talk to your family and friends. Share the good times and the bad times. You need positive people in your life to maintain a healthy outlook on life.

Keep learning. Read lots of books and work hard at school. This will help your mind to grow and expand. Knowledge is valuable.

Be active. You should try to be active every day. Exercising produces hormones that help you to feel better about yourself and it’s good for your body and mind. Find a friend or group of friends to exercise with, it’s usually more fun with someone else.

Take notice of things around you. Live in the present. Don’t look back, you can’t change the past. Notice things in the world that is happening around you. Appreciate the simple things in life.

Be creative and play. Children need to play to learn. Spend time laughing with your family and friends.

Eat good food and get plenty of sleep. This is important for a healthy body and mind.

Mr Kerins played the song Happy by Pharrell Williams for all classes to listen to.