Wellbeing Curriculum
Wellbeing is taught in Years 8-11 alongside the PSHE curriculum but has stayed as a discreet lesson in Year 7 in order to:
- Support Year 7 with their transition into secondary education
- Emphasise the importance of wellbeing
- Introduce the five ways to wellbeing
- Provide students with the time and space to explore wellbeing issues in a class and age-specific context
- Signpost further opportunities and wellbeing support to our students
The Five Ways to Wellbeing is a set of evidence-based public mental health messages aimed at improving the mental health and wellbeing of the whole population.
They were developed by the New Economics Foundation as the result of a commission by Foresight, the UK government’s futures think-tank, as part of the Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing. This report presents the results of a scoping exercise looking at how the Five Ways to Wellbeing have been used across the UK since their launch as part of the Foresight report in October 2008.
HBAED first utilised the Five Ways pathways in designing and implementing a wellbeing curriculum during the academic years 2019-20 and 2020-21, as it provides a clear and easy to understand approach to wellbeing and allows for a broad range of topics to be explored under the Five Ways to Wellbeing:
- Take Notice
- Connect
- Be Active
- Keep Learning
- Give
This allows us to explore a broad range of content under the theme set each half term.
Before moving into the themes the wellbeing curriculum starts with the Strengthening Minds Programme. Making the transition from primary to secondary education is an exciting time for students but we are aware it can also be daunting for many students. Hundreds of thousands of young people make this transition every year. However, the challenges that the world has faced throughout the pandemic has made transitional support more important than ever.
Our Strengthening Minds Transition Support Programme allows our students access to impactful wellbeing sessions to support the successful transition of all Year 7 students. Not only does this programme support students’ wellbeing throughout these unprecedented times, but it also ensures that students are equipped with the vital tools needed to successfully navigate their way through the most important term of their school careers.
This effective programme allows students to participate in weekly lessons that help them to explore their feelings towards life in secondary education, settling their concerns and bolstering their hopes. The programme also provides an opportunity to embed positive learning habits that will encourage academic and social success at HBAED.
