Wellbeing

Mr James Hindle

Wellbeing

Schools should be people places

The importance of building mental health

The longer I work in education, several things become clear: firstly and fundamentally, that we are recognising the existential importance of emphasising wellbeing for and in young people. We are providing them with the skills to cope with the social and emotional challenges they will face in their individual and collective futures. In time, this will become the number one priority of education, although we still have some way to go.

Secondly, wellbeing is different for each of us, and it is largely our own responsibility. It is not just something to be provided in Wellbeing lessons – although that is a key ingredient – but it filters into a young person’s life via the multitude of experiences they have.

And thirdly, life is relational: we come to understand ourselves and our capacities and abilities in relation to the world around us. Hopefully, we manage to find a place within this world based on our relationships with those around us and, most importantly, our understanding of ourselves. As Bill Dickinson put it:

“Schools are, or should be, people places. Their primary purpose is to help young people to develop their potential to the full – that is, to nurture them as they grow and change.”

This remains the great challenge for schools, a challenge exacerbated by the events of recent years.

Short bursts of stress (eustress) can be beneficial, driving humans to meet deadlines or goals or overcome difficulties. However, prolonged stress (distress) is known to have profoundly negative effects on people’s health. We are living in a time of prolonged stress (COVID-19, floods, fires, the invasion of Ukraine, climate change), which has an impact on us individually and collectively, even if we are not directly involved. Young people may not be fully aware of this stress, but it can proliferate through a sense of being powerless to alter things around them.

How we respond collectively in these circumstances is instructional; what young people see us doing and saying stays with them. At Scotch, we remain focused on building positive relationships between staff and students, students of different ages and school and home.

Our role is to build mental ‘wealth’, which can be most effectively done by exposing young people to a variety of experiences – not all of which should go exactly as planned or be comfortable. These can be small, everyday things or larger events. It can also be built by providing time for reflection – asking what has gone well, getting them to think about how they have dealt with difficulty or what they have seen work for others. This is really about developing a capacity to be honest and a willingness to share how they are feeling.

Two powerful examples of this at Scotch are the Tomorrow Man programme we run with our Year 10 and 11 boarders and the new Dose of Stillness programme. During Tomorrow Man, students explore how we deal with loss and hardship, express our emotions and can help others as they face their own difficulties. I have witnessed many students share some of their hardest moments, and the peer support offered to them is something we would not have seen 10 years ago.

Dose of Stillness enables staff and students to take a few moments to pause and check-in with themselves at the start of each lesson. It is based on the following three short practices, designed to develop awareness and greater control when we may feel out of control.

• Grounding: anchoring the attention of the mind back in the body with gentle movements

• Engaging: engaging the nervous system to draw the mind in – literally by drawing on a post-it note

• Focusing: using simple breathing techniques to further calm and focus the mind

In a time of increasing polarisation, perhaps the most important skill for young people to learn is the ability to network: to speak with strangers, listen to others and try to understand their perspectives. This requires flexibility and adaptability, skills which are the lifeblood of schools, practised when people speak with their friends and others in class, homeroom, mentor groups or their Houses. This is extremely important for developing empathy.

Year 10 Service students painting the Blue Tree at Lake Claremont as part of The Blue Tree Project – a suicide prevention programme that aims to grow conversations about mental health

Understanding that others experience the world differently is integral for social harmony and progress. It is something that is fostered when reading a text in English – students are asked to put themselves in someone else’s position. It occurs in Drama, where they step into another’s life and act that out in front of an audience. This should be a daunting yet humbling experience as they come to appreciate that how they see the world is not the only way of seeing. It can also foster a sense of gratitude for what they have.

The Arts have a crucial part to play in enabling us to come to terms with the world: they help us express our pain and sorrow, enable us to understand the suffering of others, and empower us to find a way forward. They are where the essence of humanity resides and where hope is enshrined.

In difficult times, it is important for young people to have a sense of something solid in their lives. Strong and positive relationships provide this stability, as well as the protection required for young people to explore who they are. This is the essence of wellbeing. It is found in all the places I have described above and many others. This is what schools must continue to provide.