Mental Health and Wellbeing
Intent
‘Do not be afraid—I am with you! I am your God—let nothing terrify you! I will make you strong and help you; I will protect you and save you.’
(Isaiah 41:10)
‘Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.’
(World Health Organisation)
At St Augustine Webster Catholic Voluntary Academy, we are committed to promoting positive mental health and wellbeing for all pupils, as well as our whole school community. We are dedicated to making a difference and ensuring that all are ‘Happy in His Loving Care’. As a school, we firmly believe in placing the child at the centre to ensure all our pupils feel safe and happy. As stated in our whole school curriculum intent, at the heart of all that we do, we have 8 virtues, which permeate through all areas of school life, including our work supporting the mental health of all in our community: faith, hope, love, justice, solidarity, temperance, courage and practical wisdom.
We recognise the importance of looking after mental health and wellbeing, in the same way that physical health is looked after. We recognise that pupil’s mental health is a fundamental factor in their overall wellbeing, which can have a significant impact on their learning and achievements. We strive to develop pupil confidence in their own ability to be able to learn independently, persevere when learning is difficult, be resilient in the face of challenge, to work collaboratively and think critically. Therefore, we acknowledge how crucial it is that we all work together, respecting the diversity of all, to support mental health and wellbeing in the best way that we can, maximising opportunities and achievements for all, knowing that we all have a role to play.
We aim to develop protective factors in school, which will support all pupils in building resilience and we hope this will also set a pattern for how they will manage their mental health and wellbeing throughout their lives. Through doing this, we desire our pupils to: have a sense of belonging and connectedness to our school and wider community; feel safe; feel valued; feel confident in themselves; feel able to talk openly with trusted adults; have positive relationships with peers and adults; cope with the stresses of everyday life and express emotions appropriately.
