Mental Health & Wellbeing

At Bicton we have a continual focus on student health and wellbeing as part of our pastoral care initiatives at the school. Young people now grow up in an environment with increasing influences on mental health and wellbeing, such as peer influence and social media influences. For our students there is a direct link between education and health and therefore when looking at improving our school performance a key factor in this is our students health. The care of our students is at the core of what we do every day.

To assist our students and staff as well as our community to become a ‘mentally healthy school’ our students are engaged in a neuroscience program called ‘Grow Your Mind’ in every classroom and year level. The program is built upon the below pillars for developing health and wellbeing:

• Positive Psychology – the study of the strengths that contribute to individual and community thriving and wellbeing
• Social and Emotional Learning – the study of how individuals acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours needed to develop the skills for self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.
• Public Health – the study of the prevention of illness and promotion of health
• Neuroscience – the study of the function and structure of the brain and nervous system.

Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Staff mental health and wellbeing at Bicton is paramount to our effectiveness. Here we have a large focus on ensuring our teachers develop strategies to reduce stress, lead healthy lifestyles, help reduce workload, build and maintain effective working relationships and belong. We focus on staff  ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing Program’ which consist of team building exercises, games, challenges and collegiate support. This program is fundamental to our future success and is built into our professional learning community. Key focuses for the future include mindfulness, stress reduction, yoga and team building exercises.