The well-being programme will provide the students with skills to evaluate critically the wide range of information available to them today so that they can make positive and responsible choices about themselves and about the way in which they live their lives – living a purposeful life rather than an accidental one. The Education Act of 1998 requires all schools to promote moral, social, spiritual and personal development for all students and also to provide health education for them. We have an Assistant Principal I on staff, who is the whole-school Wellbeing Co-ordinator and who will work with the staff and the senior management team to harmonise our wellbeing planning for our school community. We have a dedicated Pastoral Care and Student Wellbeing Team that meet regularly to provide support structures and strategies for aspects of pastoral care for student wellbeing. This team is made up of Senior Management, Wellbeing Co-ordinator, Learning Support Co-ordinator, Year Head representatives and Guidance Counsellor.
The Aims of Wellbeing:
Student well-being is at the heart of the vision of Castleisland Community College and the new Junior Cycle programme. Eight principals underpin this new programme and one of them is well-being. Central to wellbeing are the six basic indicators: Active, Responsible, Connected, Resilient, Respected and Aware.
Therefore, the aims of the well-being programme are centred around the six basic indicators. It is hoped through guided self-reflection and group work that students will develop a positive sense of themselves and their physical, social emotional, and spiritual health and well-being.
- Students will be given opportunities to look at their relationship with the self and how they can develop the essential qualities needed for life’s journey.
- Students will be encouraged to draw on their own inner strengths to build the skills of resilience.
- Plenty of opportunities will be given for mindful reflection to develop a greater sense of self-awareness.
- The aim is to create a much greater awareness around the literacy of emotional intelligence.
Whole School Approach to Wellbeing – Junior and Senior
As part of the whole school approach to well-being and to promote personal and social development, policies are in place for the following:
- Admissions
- Anti-bullying
- Assessment
- Attendance
- ICT Acceptable use policy
- Critical Incident
- Positive Relationship Policy
- Homework
- Mobile Device
- Child Protection
- Additional Educational Needs
- Subject Choice
- RSE
- SPHE
The above policies are constantly updated and reviewed at least every 2 years by staff and senior management and then they are ratified by board of management. Parents and the student council are also consulted in conjunction with the redrafting of some of the policies.
Student Support
Our students are supported in a variety of ways and their emotional, social, personal and spiritual development is fostered in many ways. These include the following:
Wellbeing Team. A wellbeing team will be set up in September 2020 in response to a whole school needs analysis which identified the need to further imbed well-being in the school curriculum. Staff members will hopefully include teachers who are teaching well-being, SPHE and other members of staff who have had CPD training or who have expressed an interest in the teaching of the subject
Student Support Team is in existence and this meets every second week. Members include the senior management team- principal and deputy principal, school counsellor, learning support and other staff members. Students at risk are identified and strategies are put in place to support these individual students. Strategies are reviewed to assess their effectiveness.
Year Head Structure – Year heads work as a team together with senior management and focus on the task of overseeing the welfare of the various year groups so that learning at every level is supported. The role of the year head is pivotal in the school community (as identified in the whole school needs analysis and POR review) and five core dimensions have emerged as being central to the role -Spirit and Ethos, Learning and Teaching, Wellbeing, Behavioural and operational.
Active Student Council consists of 18 delegates and the members meet every week to discuss and debate important issues that affect the student body. The student council gives the students a coherent voice to affect positive change within our school. The student council meets with the Board of Management once a year to give an update on all of the various activities it is involved in.
Whole School Wellbeing Week – one week per academic year when the whole school body gets involved with guest speakers in to promote the various aspects of wellbeing. There are several different activities ranging from yoga, mindfulness, play therapy, student v’s teacher soccer/basketball tournaments and meditation.
Bonding day for First Years – normally held on the first few weeks of the school year – various group activities which encourage students to mix with one another in an attempt to break down any barriers they may have when they come into secondary school.
Class trips with the year groups – group activities which encourage students to mix and take part in various activities.
Monthly Assemblies – Each year group has a monthly assembly. The entire year group assemble in the assembly hall where they meet with the year head, principal and deputy (if available). Any current or pending issues are addressed and it is an opportunity for Year Heads to address the students – regarding fund raising etc or any other matters of school business.
Sports Days/competitions – Physical activity is very much encouraged in well-being and is a definite way to destress in what is sometimes a very stressful environment driven by the pressure of the points system. We complete a ‘Walk and Talk’ every year where the whole school community undertakes a 5km walk, it encourages social interaction and physical activity.