A new way of promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools

The Children’s Society recently published a report called Life on Hold, which focused on the impact that COVID-19 has had on children’s lives (particularly those children already disadvantaged). The report detailed how, even before COVID-19, children’s happiness levels were at the lowest they’ve been since 2009/10. Throw in the new normal of school closures, disrupted daily routines, being away from friends, homeschooling, virtual lessons and likely stressed-out parents, and it’s unsurprising that children’s mental health and wellbeing is currently in the spotlight.  

The report emphasised the need for children to be equipped with wellbeing skills to help them flourish in the wider world. But what’s the best way to go about doing this? 

We believe that schools are in a perfect position to help. They can provide a supportive environment where children can talk openly about their experiences, discuss feelings and learn coping methods from a young age. However, as teachers are not mental health practitioners, they’re going to need some help to do this in a meaningful way. We think we have a solution to this problem.

Connect is a new evidence-informed Personal, Social, and Health Education (PSHE) wellbeing curriculum (250+ lesson plans and associated resources), which has been created by a team of educational psychologists, clinical psychologists and teachers. The curriculum has two important strands. Firstly, it uses the DNA-V model (created by Dr Louise Hayes and Dr Joseph Ciarrochi) to teach children a way of talking about and managing their thoughts and feelings (DNA-V stands for four skills - Discoverer, Noticer, Advisor and Values). Secondly, the termly themes are based on The 6 Ways to Wellbeing (a framework first introduced by Dr Geetanjali Basarkod), which details the six behaviours that psychologically healthy people tend to do a lot of: 

  • Exercise

  • Self-Care

  • Give To Others

  • Connect With Others

  • Challenge Yourself

  • Embrace The Moment

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Few would argue that children, in these uncertain times, need to be psychologically resilient. We think you can use our curriculum to help them get there. And if you do this, then you're going to see lower risks of mental health issues in later life, improvements in self-esteem, academic learning, and prosocial behaviour, and altogether a happy school environment. If you’re interested in learning more about Connect then clicking the button below will take you to our free trial.

We hope you love it!

Image credits: @rodlong, Unsplash

Connect PSHE