Wellbeing at St. Raphaela’s
Wellbeing is at the core of everything we do in St. Raphaela’s. Wellbeing is a multifaceted concept, and our efforts to promote student well-being are on a whole school basis. The research indicates that “adopting a whole school approach produces a wide range of educational and social benefits for individual children and young people, including improved behaviour, increased inclusion, improved learning, greater social cohesion, increased social capital and improvements to mental health” (Weare &Gray, 2003).
Wellbeing is present when students realise their abilities, take care of their physical wellbeing, can cope with the normal stresses of life, and have a sense of place and belonging to a wider community.
Wellbeing indicators:
These indicators are representative of the following key skills that St. Raphaela’s strives to develop in our pupils:
- Being a confident and skilled participant in physical activity.
- Being able to act to protect and promote their well-being and that of others.
- Making healthy eating choices.
- Knowing when and where their safety is at risk and enabling them to make the right choices.
- Feeling connected to their school, friends, community and the wider world.
- Understanding how their actions and interactions impact on their own wellbeing and that of others, in local and global contexts.
- Feeling confident in themselves and having the coping skills to deal with life’s challenges.
- Knowing where they can go for help.
- Believing that, with effort, they can achieve.
- Showing care and respect for others.
- Having positive relationships with friends, peers, and staff members.
- Feeling listened to and valued.
- Being aware of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, and being able to make sense of them.
- Being aware of their personal values, and able to think through their decisions.
- Being aware of themselves as learners and knowing how they can improve.
Student Wellbeing Committee
At St. Raphaela's Secondary School our students’ wellbeing is very important to us. This year we have taken the initiative to set up a student-run Wellbeing Committee. This committee allows students to act as a voice for the student body to work together to improve well-being in our school. There are members from every year group on our committee to ensure we hear all voices in our school. The Wellbeing Committee has already worked together to host events and start new schemes in our school. In October of this year our sixth- and fifth-year members worked together to host a bake sale in order to raise funds for Pieta House. Our students showed great support for this, and we raised an amazing €686 which was then sent to Pieta House. This bake sale not only raised money for a worthy cause but also boosted morale in the school as students were given the opportunity to enjoy a sweet treat and relax!
Another project our Wellbeing Committee has been working on is providing free sanitary products in our bathrooms to help students who may be in need. Once again, our students showed extreme levels of respect and gratitude towards this initiative, and it is now in full swing with great appreciation.
We hope to host many more events throughout the year to boost morale and wellbeing around our school, especially in stressful times such as exams. We also welcome any ideas given to us by our peers to ensure every student's voice is heard and appreciated. Our committee allowed our students to come together and work towards a common goal and has also shown us how supportive, respectful, and positive our students are when helping our peers.