,
Let’s take action!
This Year the students and staff of St Vincent’s Secondary School are aiming to highlight just how important it is for all of us to maintain positive mental health. To that end we are setting ourselves the task of gaining the Amber Flag for our school. The Amber Flag initiative is a new campaign by ‘Suicide Aware’ which aims to promote mental health and suicide awareness. As part of the process we are dedicating a specific week November 16th to November 20th to focus on positive mental health in a fun way. We are calling this week ‘Wellbeing Week’
My Mental Health
Mental health is about more than being free of mental illness. It is also about having a positive sense of wellbeing and living happy lives.
Positive mental health allows us to:
· Enjoy life’s pleasures
· Believe in our own abilities
· Cope with the normal stresses of life
· Work/study productively
· Enjoy socialising
Positive mental health is about reaching our potential and feeling like we always have the chance to give everything our best shot; not just feeling positive, but also getting out there in the 'big bad world'.
The students, parents and staff of St. Vincent’s are a community. We must always care for and love one another. This is how we will achieve success in all aspects of our lives
Wellbeing Week - Monday 16th – Friday 20th November 2015
Various activities took place to promote and encourage our students to recognise ways in which they can help themselves and those around them.
Monday
Friday:
In addition to this week we also intend to carry out additional activities over the rest of the school year:
Pieta House – Darkness into Light - Senior Students
Cork Marathon Relay – TY and Fifth Year Students
Mind Your Head Programme – TY Students
Thank You,
The Amber Flag Committee
Let’s take action!
This Year the students and staff of St Vincent’s Secondary School are aiming to highlight just how important it is for all of us to maintain positive mental health. To that end we are setting ourselves the task of gaining the Amber Flag for our school. The Amber Flag initiative is a new campaign by ‘Suicide Aware’ which aims to promote mental health and suicide awareness. As part of the process we are dedicating a specific week November 16th to November 20th to focus on positive mental health in a fun way. We are calling this week ‘Wellbeing Week’
My Mental Health
Mental health is about more than being free of mental illness. It is also about having a positive sense of wellbeing and living happy lives.
Positive mental health allows us to:
· Enjoy life’s pleasures
· Believe in our own abilities
· Cope with the normal stresses of life
· Work/study productively
· Enjoy socialising
Positive mental health is about reaching our potential and feeling like we always have the chance to give everything our best shot; not just feeling positive, but also getting out there in the 'big bad world'.
The students, parents and staff of St. Vincent’s are a community. We must always care for and love one another. This is how we will achieve success in all aspects of our lives
Wellbeing Week - Monday 16th – Friday 20th November 2015
Various activities took place to promote and encourage our students to recognise ways in which they can help themselves and those around them.
Monday
- Announcement of “Wellbeing Week” by intercom.
- Thought of the Day was read over the intercom by selected TY Students
- Students were encouraged to engage in Random Acts of Kindness
- A Positivity Wall was located in the Social Area displaying inspirational quotations on health and wellbeing.
- TY Students presented each teacher with a poster for his/her classroom to mark ‘Wellbeing Week’
- TY students distributed lollipops to the students as a Random (but planned) Act of Kindness during lunch time.
- Random Acts of Kindness suggestions/ Thought of the Day were read out over the intercom by selected TY Students
- Happy Faces Treasure Hunt was organized for the junior school. This involved the placing of different sized Happy Faces symbols around the school. During lunch time students simply had to count as many of these as they could find and place their answers in the answer box provided. Prizes were presented to the winners
- Random Acts of Kindness suggestions/ Thought of the Day were read over the intercom by selected TY Students
- Trend Micro – Cyber Safety and Bullying Prevention talk delivered by TY Students to First Year students.
- Non Uniform Day - students were asked to ‘wear what makes you happy and were told that the only accessory you need is a smile.’ Monies collected were donated to ‘Suicide Aware’
- Random Acts of Kindness suggestions/ Thought of the Day were read out over the intercom by selected TY Students
- During the latter part of the week First and Second Year students had an opportunity to view the movie ‘Inside Out’ This movie highlighted the role of emotion in our lives and noted that sadness at times is something that we all experience in life.
Friday:
- Staff In-service – Whole School Approach to Positive Mental Health
In addition to this week we also intend to carry out additional activities over the rest of the school year:
Pieta House – Darkness into Light - Senior Students
Cork Marathon Relay – TY and Fifth Year Students
Mind Your Head Programme – TY Students
Thank You,
The Amber Flag Committee