Taking Stock - Weekly Wellbeing

As I sit writing this review of the Wellbeing week, it is often the first time I get an opportunity to  take stock of all the amazing conversations, discussions, debates, opinions and insights that are shared and enjoyed by students and staff alike  in every Wellbeing classroom over the course of the last five days. This week was no different and fresh in the memory is the Year 7 lesson today where the students continued their series of lessons produced by the Global Goals team focusing on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. We began by imagining a world where young people no rights at all and discussed the importance of freedoms and rights for all human beings below the age of 18 and the need for equality of opportunity for all. If you are a parent of a Year 7 student, I would encourage you to discuss the UNCRC with them this weekend. A huge thank you to our Global Goals teams for developing not only the Year 7 lessons but also the Year 9 lessons on Inequalities and Discrimination. 

The Year 8 students continued their ‘Power of Communication’ lessons and this week the focus was on connecting with their family. There was some wonderful creativity on show as students were encouraged to create their own personal ‘family crests’ containing information about their own family. It was wonderful to discuss what constitutes family - grandparents, cousins, even pets?  As well as considering the similarities and differences between our families, we also discussed the key character strengths needed to have a positive connection with them ...the Year 7 students in my class  identified the need for love, kindness, fairness, forgiveness and gratitude to name just a few.

Our Year 10 students continued to develop their Personal Wellbeing Plans and built on the great work from last week by considering what they need to develop the positive emotions required to  enable them to thrive and flourish. This was broken down into three key areas - what they can do personally, where they may need some support from home and where the school can help them. If you have a child in Year 10, I hope you are having the opportunity to discuss their Personal Wellbeing plans with your son or daughter. 

The success of the first few months of the Wellbeing Curriculum is not only down to the enthusiasm and participation of our students but also the commitment of our teachers to support the development and delivery of  challenging and engaging Wellbeing lessons and follow up Tutor Time activities. This week a large number of colleagues attended a training session on Tuesday after school to discuss the role of the Wellbeing Curriculum and its importance in supporting the general physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of our students across the school. 

I hope you are having an opportunity to discuss the Wellbeing curriculum with your son or daughter and gain a greater understanding of the work they are doing during lessons and in Tutor Time. Should you have any feedback, please do not hesitate to contact me at robert.alexander@bisvietnam.com

Mr Alexander, Head of Middle Secondary (Pastoral & Wellbeing)