Supporting Student Wellbeing
Frequently asked questions
What student well-being programmes do you offer secondary schools?
We provide two well-being programmes to support students on their journey right throughout secondary school, one for Junior Cycle students called Learning to Learn and a Senior Cycle programme called Ways to Well-Being.
Learning to Learn provides students with practical learning and self-awareness strategies that enable them to feel more confident, connected and engaged in their learning.
The Ways to Well-Being programme gives students the confidence, motivation and resilience to develop the mindset to deal with an increasingly challenging world.
Each programme includes:
- A dedicated student workbook with clear individual lessons.
- Supporting teacher resources including a teacher manual with background theory, methodology and individual lesson plans, along with online resources and video links.
- Fast-track induction training for teachers in each of the programmes.
How should we plan for the well-being provision in our school?
A key issue facing schools in trying to plan for well-being is to have a clear understanding of what is expected of them in their support for student well-being. The Department of Education and Skills identifies a three-tier approach that schools should have in promoting student well-being.
Our well-being programmes fit into the first tier of this model, where we provide schools with a structured universal well-being programme promoting positive life choices. Each programme can be inserted into the school timetable and taught by the teachers themselves in the classroom. As a structured programme, it is broken down into individual lessons for the students, with accompanying lesson plans in the teacher manual, and follows a logical progression.
- Provision of universal well-being programmes to all students which promote positive life choices.
- Identified support structures within the school to support students who may present as needing extra individual support.
- Clearly identified external referral pathways for students who present with more complex needs.
Our well-being programmes fit into the first tier of this model, where we provide schools with a structured universal well-being programme promoting positive life choices. Each programme can be inserted into the school timetable and taught by the teachers themselves in the classroom. As a structured programme, it is broken down into individual lessons for the students, with accompanying lesson plans in the teacher manual, and follows a logical progression.
Is there training available in certain areas for teachers interested in teaching well-being modules?
Training is available to teachers in a variety of ways, where they are introduced to the theory underpinning the programme and methodology for delivery:
- The Super Generation run a number of train the trainer teacher training events throughout the year in various locations around Ireland. Schools may decide to send individual interested teachers on these one-day courses. Dates and further information on upcoming training are available on the Super Generation website under ‘Upcoming Training and Events’.
- There is limited capacity to deliver a full day’s training to a whole school staff upon request. Dates and arrangements depend on time of year and number of staff involved.
- Responding to the needs of schools, we have begun to develop a number of webinar training options for teachers and these will be expanded upon in the near future.
If interested in any of the training options, please check out the website for regular updates on all future training options.
What does each programme entail?
Learning to Learn provides students with practical learning and self-awareness strategies that enable them to feel more confident, connected and engaged in their learning. This is a 100-hour course with extra optional material.
The Ways to Well-Being programme gives students the confidence, motivation and resilience to develop the mindset to deal with an increasingly challenging world. This is a 50-hour course with extra optional material.
Each programme includes:
- A dedicated student workbook with clear individual lessons.
- Supporting teacher resources, including a teacher manual with background theory, methodology and individual lesson plans, along with online resources and video links.
- Fast-track induction training for teachers in each of the programmes.
What is the connection between well-being and learning?
Well-being, as described by Martin Seligman, is about having a sense of purpose, meaning and achievement in what we are doing. In terms of our students, a large proportion of their lives revolves around what is happening in and around the classroom. Therefore, in terms of supporting a student’s well-being at school, the aim is to help students identify their abilities and to develop the awareness and skills to cope with the normal stresses of everyday academic life, by providing them with opportunities to feel more confident and connected in their leaning. This gives the student a greater sense of purpose and belonging and also gives meaning to their learning journey.
How can we further motivate students to develop a strategy for self-reflection?
Reflection is a cornerstone for promoting both learning and well-being. Being reflective is focused on helping students to better understand themselves as individuals, along with aiding them in planning and making good life decisions. Reflection is a skill that needs to be practised on a regular basis, where the student is shown how to not simply recall what happened, but to also identify what they have learnt in a situation and, ultimately know where they can apply this learning in the future. As a skill, it needs to be practised regularly until it becomes routine. Each lesson in each programme concludes by asking the student overtly what they have learnt and where they can use it again, or simply what their takeaways from that lesson are. These end-of-lesson reflections create opportunities for students where they can identify their own strengths and develop them further, and promote a growth mindset.
How to introduce well-being more often into exam classes?
A key issue for any exam student is coping with the stress of assessments and exams in their lives. We know that we can share with students the awareness, knowledge and skills which develop their resilience, build their confidence and promote a growth mindset. Each of these attributes helps students not only better prepare for exams but also prepares them for facing future challenges in life. However, to teach these skills effectively they need to be taught explicitly and allocated time given to them on the timetable. This ensures that they can be built up over time and reinforced. We can only call upon the use of a skill in times of stress when we have regular previous exposure to it. So, in terms of better supporting our exam classes, it is better to plan ahead on our timetable, and make sure there is provision for the prior teaching of these skills, so that when as a teacher you need to reference them in an exam class, the students will know what is being talked about.
Have you any tips on engaging with students about their personal well-being?
(I find it is often quite a general conversation I can have with students due to the size of classes)
Any well-being programme is a universal preventative programme which shares with students the knowledge and skills to help them to make positive choices in supporting their own well-being. No well-being class should become a facilitated therapeutic session; that is not the purpose of a well-being class. Rather, it is an opportunity for students to become aware of the vocabulary of their well-being and understand their emotions better in order to communicate them. If a student needs to talk about a specific issue, it is much better that this conversation is held in a safe environment with the correct identified personnel. A classroom is not a safe environment for students to openly discuss personal issues and teachers need to be careful to ensure these boundaries are maintained. Somebody teaching well-being may not need to be a guidance counsellor, nor should they step into the role of one in the classroom.
Have you any strategies to bring well-being to a whole-school level?
In terms of a whole-school approach to well-being, it is important to first reference the Department of Education and Skills’ documents in this area, which outline the expectations of schools for supporting student well-being. However, the simplest way of approaching this question is to look at the 4 Ps.
Policy – Every school is expected to have a well-being team in place, with the responsibility of drafting a well-being policy for the school that clearly identifies how the school provides for the well-being of the students in terms of universal programmes, identified interventions and, finally, identified pathways for clinical support. This document also confers to all stakeholders in the school community the importance the school places on the well-being of their students and staff.
Programmes – Does your school have clear programmes in place which explicitly teach well-being to students? We know that well-being is something that can be taught by sharing with students the awareness and strategies that they can implement in their own lives on a regular basis, which contributes to their sense of purpose, meaning and achievement in life. The key issue here is to ensure your school delivers clear, structured programmes with appropriate student resources so that students can clearly see that this is something worth investing in.
Place – Has the school clearly identified a place on your timetable at both Junior and Senior Level where lesson periods have been given over to the teaching of well-being? If well-being is to be valued, the teaching of it needs to be consistent and not occur on an ad hoc basis.
People – Has the school identified a lead for promoting well-being in the school, and are they supported by their colleagues and with adequate training? We know that for any programme to succeed properly in a school, the teacher(s) need to feel confident of the content and how to communicate it.
Therefore, it is preferable that training opportunities be provided for any person being asked to deliver a well-being programme in their school.
Therefore, it is preferable that training opportunities be provided for any person being asked to deliver a well-being programme in their school.
How to embed either of the programmes within the constraints of the existing timetable?
This is a key question for all schools. However, the starting point is answering these two simple questions:
Therefore, the challenge is where to find time on the timetable. This will take some consideration by those who have responsibility for creating the timetable, and a conversation may need to be had with them to fully appreciate the need for a clearly designated time.
In terms of the Junior Cycle, there are 400 hours allocated to the teaching of well-being, and having taken SPHE, PE and CSPE into the equation, there are around 100 hours remaining for schools to implement a well-being programme. Schools may decide to do this as part of their tutor period time, or even timetable a new class specifically for the teaching of well-being.
In terms of the Senior Cycle, it is not as clear where the time may be found on the timetable. However, many options still remain available to schools. Transition Year as a year of personal development is always a good starting point for introducing a well-being programme to students. Schools tend not to have as much pressure on their timetable during this year, and are always looking for new easy-to-teach programmes with great personal value for the students, making the teaching of well-being a natural choice. In terms of fifth and sixth year, schools are asked to provide guidance hours for students.
This might be another natural fit for incorporating well-being into the timetable, and in some schools they have recognised the value of well-being for their students and made a conscious decision to allocate one period a week to the teaching of well-being and SPHE at Senior Cycle.
- What priority do we as a school place on student well-being? If we place a value on it and believe that it is something that should be taught, then a closer look will be given to the timetable to see where it can fit in.
- Do we appreciate that a happy student makes a more successful student? Too often, we look at our timetables and give focus to the academic subjects and amount of time needed for them, thinking that if our students do well in their learning then they will be happier. However, the opposite is actually more true: a student who is happy and content in and of themselves will go on to become more successful in their learning.
Therefore, the challenge is where to find time on the timetable. This will take some consideration by those who have responsibility for creating the timetable, and a conversation may need to be had with them to fully appreciate the need for a clearly designated time.
In terms of the Junior Cycle, there are 400 hours allocated to the teaching of well-being, and having taken SPHE, PE and CSPE into the equation, there are around 100 hours remaining for schools to implement a well-being programme. Schools may decide to do this as part of their tutor period time, or even timetable a new class specifically for the teaching of well-being.
In terms of the Senior Cycle, it is not as clear where the time may be found on the timetable. However, many options still remain available to schools. Transition Year as a year of personal development is always a good starting point for introducing a well-being programme to students. Schools tend not to have as much pressure on their timetable during this year, and are always looking for new easy-to-teach programmes with great personal value for the students, making the teaching of well-being a natural choice. In terms of fifth and sixth year, schools are asked to provide guidance hours for students.
This might be another natural fit for incorporating well-being into the timetable, and in some schools they have recognised the value of well-being for their students and made a conscious decision to allocate one period a week to the teaching of well-being and SPHE at Senior Cycle.
Can the programmes be adapted to be taught in a modular format?
Both well-being programmes are designed to be adaptable to the needs of individual schools and may be taught in a modular format. There is extra material in both programmes to allow for scope and choice in each school on what they wish to teach. However, it is always good to give some consideration to the order in which the modules are presented to the students.
In terms of Learning to Learn, it would be best to keep Section 1: Transitioning and Learning to the students’ first year in secondary school as the focus is on that particular point in their lives. In terms of the remainder of the programme, schools may decide in what order they wish to teach them, and for teachers to teach different elements of the programme.
In terms of Ways to Well-Being, again, it would be wise to start with the first section on the Relationship with Life, as this section focuses on the student knowing themselves better and introduces them to some key concepts such as mindfulness and living life with purpose. The remainder of the sections may then be taught separately in modular format.
