We are currently looking very carefully at wellbeing in the school and have been actively promoting mindfulness and more importantly ‘kindfulness’ in our pupils though a number of practices and across a number of curriculum areas. We aim to build resilience and promote ‘right thinking – right action’ critical thinking skills in our pupils. We recently created a wellness room in the school and hope to utilise this for wellness breaks for pupils in need of this space. We hope to devise a policy in relation to this in the near future in collaboration with our Parent body and our student council. In additon to the existing SPHE curriculum we are also implementing the following well-being initiatives:

• Meditation – thrice weekly across the whole school. The benefits are manifold – improved emotional regulation, increased concentration, resilience, spirituality, etc.
• Whole School Wonder Project.
• Weaving Wellbeing Programme is being piloted in 2nd and 3rd classes.
• Zones of Regulation.
• Best Foot Forward Programme.
• Smile Project (promoting Optimism).
• Emotional Thermometers.
• Our Golden Book – promotes pro-social behaviour and kindness. Positive reinforcement.
• Buddy Benches.
• Circle Time.
• Resilience Tool Kit classes.
• Anxiety Coping Skills groups as part of our new SET (Special Education Teaching) Model.
• Break cards and ‘relaxation areas’ in each classroom for brief ‘time-outs’ for pupils who need brief movement, sensory or energy breaks. Accessible to all pupils.
• Social Stories to explain, model and assimilate important information and messages.
• Concentration Stations in each room for pupils to avail of when requiring more space or concentration.