A toolkit of wellbeing practices and interventions

Developing and applying clear, fair and consistent disciplinary processes

1. Ensure rights and responsibilities are visible for students and staff. Set the tone for behavioural expectations and prompts for prosocial behaviour in your classroom i.e. signage and explicit reminder each lesson, aligned with positive outcomes and consequences respectively.
   
   
2. Debrief opportunities for students following incidents.

staff following distressing incidents through the EAP service or with a colleague on site.

1. Design, use and supervision of school space for example, surveillance and provision of a 'chill out' space. Logistical considerations conducive to promoting access to wellbeing services
   
   
2. Targeted workshops for students for example, anti-social behaviours, risk-taking behaviours, or neurodiverse students (i.e. neurodiverse students)
   
   
3. Provision of one-to-one time with teachers and staff (i.e. provision of time and access to student mentors)
   
   
4. Structural and differential provisions to support student wellbeing i.e. person-centred considerations within class work, commitments and feedback
   
   
5. Understanding sensory needs of each student, and accomodating where possible.
   
   
6. Incorporate student voice into decision making
   
   
7. Providing a clean and inviting environment
   

1. Staff mentoring programs with a focus on relationship building
   
2. Get to know the diverse co-curricular opportunities to suggest to students
   
3. Encourage and advocate for the provision of positive shared experiences such as;

• Outdoor education experiences (cadets)
• Camps and trips
• Sporting opportunities
• Tartan army
• Service learning opportunities
• Social justice activities
• Charitable affiliations and activities
• Community engagement.
• Group projects2.

2. Fostering Student belonging through activities:

• ‘Someone like me’ - rhyming game “Im looking for someone like me who …. lived in Hong Kong”, “im looking for someone like me who enjoys a game of ping pong or….
• ‘Find Me Out’ - tasked with findings out about their peers, seeking people with commonalities (I.e. start by first letter of surname/height) and then followed by answering a pre-set question about them
• Values Bingo – fill in card based on prompts per row for example, write down your preferred learning environment and then find a person to match each row. First to find matches for a row wins.
• Human Bingo - Write down a persons name in your class/year group for each box for example, 'someone who can be silly with me'. Teacher reads out all students names in no particular order of that class/ year group. First to match a row wines.
• School Health Promotion Committee (I.e. Wellbeing portfolio)
• Platform for student and staff suggestions
• Monthly wall magazine – where students share post it notes.
• Class peer groups to address student feedback and concerns.

A self-determined motivational profile has been related to the highest achievement (Boiché et al., 2008). Providing an autonomy-supportive climate promotes autonomous and intrinsic motivation that fosters adaptive attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions.

1. Reflection activities that focus on behaviours and habits that relate to dietary choices. Education on the physiological impact of stress on the digestive system.
   
   
2. Habit formation programs based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) focused on "nutritional education, identifying obstacles and training problem-solving skills, to support (realistic) strategies to motivate students to engage in a personal behaviour change goal and implement it in daily life" (PHS-pro; Vieira, 2017)
   
   
3. Provide 5-minute active breaks during class
   
   
4. Provide visible prompts to engage in healthy habits such as, reminders encouraging healthy eating in the dining hall.
   
   
5. Intentional Healthy lifestyle programs; for example, 6 x 90-minute sessions over 3 weeks focused on nutrition, physical activity, mental health, communication and safety (Saffari et al., 2013)
   
   
6. Personalised and systematic goal setting (ages 11-12; Gerani et al., 2020) can have positive effects on personal development and self-management that promotes achievement and sustained motivation.
   
   
7. Learning for Life (as cited in Hyman et al,.2020)
   
   
8. Provision of resources to encourage health habits for example, behaviour modification apps and pedometers (LEAF / Program X; Lubans et al., 2009) can significantly increase exercise and healthy lifestyle habits (i.e. steps p/day)

1. Improve health literacy - hold robust conversations challenging critical thinking skills and gently creating awareness of convenient but misaligned behaviours to student values (drinking Monsters and wanting to be fit and healthy).
   
2. Review, monitor, and advocate the whole-school food environment, provide food-related experiences and exposure to locally produced foods alongside education on agriculture, food, nutrition science.

1. Offer alternatives to the 'Head on Desk' default - stretch, go for a walk, get 5 minutes of Vitamin D, drink some cold water, come back.
   
2. Need-supportive teaching applied in physical education

• SDT theory informed exercise intervention (Murphy et al., 2022)– students participate in the design of the exercise program and have autonomy over selection of activity every lunchtime. Skill development with teacher assistance in small groups conducive to peer connection and selection.
  
• Sport education model (Luna et al., 2019)–sequential program starting with theory, followed by practical implementation (with roles and reflection opportunities to refine skills) ending with final practical sessions (such as, competition).
  
• Fun n’ Healthy in Moreland!
  
• 11 for Health in Denmark program – two weekly sessions focused on health messaging, smaller group exercise drills and praising partners (Madsen et al., 2019)
  
• Project SPORT – (Werch et al., 2005); 12 minute one to one consultation embedding alcohol messaging and exercise improved exercise habits and decreased alcohol and cigarette consumption with sustained effects
  

Growth Mindset

1. Positive academic mindsets motivate students to persist at schoolwork and are associated with a “mastery goal orientation,” where challenges are reframed as opportunities which manifest into adaptive academic behaviours and performance (Farrington et al., 2012; 2013). We can foster growth mindsets through;
   
2. Creating awareness to automatic negative thoughts and performance enhancing thoughts
   
3. Moving beyond the recognition of effort and encourage the persistence to keep trying “Let’s talk about what you’ve tried, and what you can try next.” (Dweck, 2015)
   
4. Providing psychoeducation on the brains ability to grow in response to challenges, followed by a watching / listening to a growth testimonial written by a peer, and tasked with writing their own growth story about a challenge they overcame (Shamiri-Digital intervention; Osborn et al., 2020)
   
5. Explicit programs focusing on neuroplasticity education, effective strategies for growth and activities such as “saying is believing” or writing letters to other students reflecting on what they had learnt. Subsequent take-home activity instructs students to practice what they have learnt (Venturo-Conerly et al.,2022)
   
6. Embedding a growth mindset into instructional practices (Farrington et al., 2012) by;

• presenting students with challenging but achievable tasks;
• communicating high expectations for student learning and provide supports that allow students to meet these expectations;
• making evaluation practices clear and fair and provide ample feedback;
• reinforcing and modelling a commitment to education and being explicit about the value of education to the quality of one’s life;
• providing students with opportunities to exercise autonomy and choice in their academic work;
• requiring students to use higher-order thinking to compete academic tasks;
• structuring tasks to emphasize active participation in learning activities rather than passively “receiving” information;
• emphasising variety in how material is presented and in the tasks students are asked to do;
• requiring students to collaborate and interact with one another when learning new material;
• emphasising the connection of schoolwork to students’ lives and interests and to life outside of school;
• modelling a fair, supportive, and dedicated approach to student learning while holding high expectations for student work

See 'Be the Best You Can Be' (BtBYCB) a three tiered intervention "to identify aspirations, values, and interests, develop the learning, self-management, self-reflection, and interpersonal skills and culminating in a short group presentation with invited guests to reflect upon their personal achievements and reflect on the life-skills developed through the intervention" using activities such as personal development planning, goal-setting, and peer-mentoring (Standage et al., 2013, p. 2).

1. Foster self-regulated learning through;

• providing person-centred and context specific study skills
• identifying relevance of study and topics to students
• creating an autonomous supportive environment; “Lessons need to provide choice, promote initiation, and understanding, while minimizing the need to perform and act in a prescribed manner” (Standage et al., 2013)
• ReflectED programme; teaching skills of setting and monitoring goals, assessing progress, and identifying personal strengths and challenges
• see effective goal setting, also closely aligned to motivation and associated with higher levels of autonomy, relatedness and competency (Vella-Brodrick & Chin, 2020).

1. Utilise varied learning strategies such as;

• rehearsal, organization, and elaboration;
• Metacognitive Strategies; planning, monitoring, and regulation
• Resource-oriented strategies

1. Model self-direction and self-management to our students;

• Staff PD opportunities to set and pursue personal goals for learning and development
• Openly celebrate teachers who take steps to introduce agency and autonomy in their instructional practice

Living to your values and utilising your strengths foster meaningfulness and purpose related to higher life satisfaction, improved subjective wellbeing and reduce psychopathological symptoms (Khanna et al., 2021; Shoshani & Slone, 2017). Many find meaning and purpose through their faith, while others find this through charitable work or contributions to group affiliations.

• Help students find relevance to their daily lives – identify pathways for example, problem-solving skills, perspective taking
• Provide opportunities for students to savour and identify personal sources of happiness
• Applying a core reflection approach; Task students to recognise and use their core qualities for four weeks supplemented by teachers regularly validating their core qualities, pupils identifying core qualities together in class accompanied with time for personal reflection activities and writing personal stories.
• Value affirmations; Task students to write about a time in which they have used their values to guide their life decisions (Osborn et al., 2020), facilitate a group discussion on personal values and how to better live according to that value. Lastly, end with a set task to enact the value (Venturo-Conerly et al., 2022)
• Value-based goal setting

Faith

Faith is the belief, trust and loyalty to God, religious doctrine characterised by institutional rituals, practices, and beliefs (Houskamp, Fisher, & Stuber, 2004). Faith is likely to foster love and respect for others, hope, forgiveness and resilience (Van Dierendonck & Mohan, 2006; Hendrick & Hendrick, 2002; Masten, 1999). Activities that nurture faith include;

• Reflection exercises on teachings of values and morality
• Scripture reading
• Choir
• Attending chapel or place of worship
• Attending religious ceremonies
• Celebrating important religious events
• Prayer
• Sunday school
• Attendance to Youth clubs
• Involvement with charitable affiliations

1. Redirecting our attention to the present and learning to accept emerging emotions reduces inattention and hyperactivity symptoms in addition to improving quality of sleep (Valosek et al., 2019), self-compassion, self-acceptance, psychological wellbeing (Modi et al.,2018) and health related quality of life (Lassander et al., 2021).

• ACT programs (Burkhardt et al., 2017) targeting values identification (debates between following values-based living or feeling good), thought defusion and mindfulness exercises
• Accept Identify Move (AIM, ages 6-13; Abdi et al., 2016)
• Breathing techniques, postures and guided meditation in conjunction
• Yoga, Tai Chi, self-massage exercises
• Living Mindfully Programme (prep) - Know your Mind, Know your thoughts, Know your body, Know your emotions (teacher qualification available).
• Gradual Meditation – gradual increase in length of session over time starting from 9 minutes to 30 minutes p/session (3 times p/week; Crescenti et al., 2016, p.5)
• Psychoeducation on mindfulness followed by formal practice sessions; body scan, mindful eating, breathing meditation
• Group activities fostering empathetic collaboration and prosocial behaviours (by designing activities that require mutual help to achieve shared goals), perspective taking by shared experiences and reflection (Carro et al., 2021)
• Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)
• Guided imagery
• Positive self-talk
• Savouring practices
• Trust walk
• Cooperative drawing
• Measuring someone eles’s pulse
• The mirror game

2. Self-compassion

Explicit teaching of mindfulness and self-compassion such as Making Friends with Yourself: A Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens” (MFY).

Kindness interventionsamong young students have been associated with increased happiness, subjective wellbeing, life satisfaction, pro-social behaviours and peer acceptance (Layous et al., 2012; Suldo et al., 2014).

3. Prep school appropriate activities

• Prosocial/ inclusivity – You can’t say, you can’t play
• Commit to and Model three kind acts
• The Caring for Life humane education program (Preparatory school program teaching empathy and compassion; Samuels, 2018)

Education on the benefits of gratitude and opportunities to practice gratitude are associated with increased school satisfaction, life satisfaction, social ties, positive affect, mental health and psychological wellbeing (McCullough et al. 2001). Attending to socio-cognitive components will also help students learn schematic benefit appraisals within gratitude programs or curriculum (Froh et al., 2014 as cited in Khanna and Singh, 2016)

1. Nice thinking! A benefit appraisal activity evoked through personalised story telling. Ask students to identify intent of benefactor in three scenarios, the cost experienced by the benefactor bestowing the gift and the benefit of receiving the gift bestowed. Include role-plays and writing exercises. Can be applied in discussion form when reviewing literature text, historical figures, geography content, political economy, etc
   
   
2. Gratitude visit (write and deliver a letter to someone who has helped you)
   
   
3. Start lessons and meetings with Counting ones blessings / Sharing three good things
   
   
4. Provide psychoeducation (Bono et al., 2020) on how and why it is important practice gratitude followed by authentic modality of practice e.g., affirmations to others, journalling, writing thank you letters, and expressing thanks to others
   
   
5. Heart-centred gratitude visualisations (Chinmoy, 2010)
   
   
6. Model gratitude for behaviours that reflect and support your teaching and classroom values.

1. Altruistic interventions are found to boost life satisfaction and positive emotions among adolescents. Integrative Educational Intervention of Altruism (IEIA) - practical activities and content taught across four themes; social responsibility, empathy, interpersonal trust, sociality and summary delivered over 14 weeks. Activities include; small community deeds (removing graffiti, picking up rubbish), psychological expansion activities, watching and debriefing movies – all followed by keeping a dairy of the good deeds you do and pay attention to the description of feelings and thoughts.
   
   
2. Service-Learning opportunities
   
   
3. Other people Mindset (Dr Peterson)
   
   
4. Connection activities -see belonging
   
   
5. Perspective taking exercises. These can be explicit via activities such as the blind man and the elephant activity (or an adaptation of) or implicit through curriculum such as discussions of political and economical fallout of innovation through the ages, wars, economics, politics, culture, geopolitical issues and can be practically applied in parental conversations and in behaviour management conversations.
   
   
6. Tolerance activities (scenarios, discussions and role plays)
   
   
7. Effective Mentoring has been found to reduce negative affect, internalising behavior and increases self-esteem (Claro & Perelmiter, 2022).

Recognising and using strengths across time and place, boosts student happiness, life satisfaction, positive affect, classroom engagement, autonomy and strengths use (Quinlan et al., 2014).

1. Character strength interventions

• Personalised feedback and discussion following the VIA survey followed by the task of using their strengths over the next week.
• Using signature strengths in new ways – task students to use strengths in new and different ways (with a new person or new situation) every day over the next week
• Strengths Gym; encourages and helps students identify and nurture character strengths. 24 lessons are each dedicated to one character strength to define the character strength, engage in strength builders’ exercises and strength challenges as a follow up activity.

- https://positivepsychology.com/self-concept/

2. Support insight development of personal values

3. Encourage self-affirmations

4. Check out programs such as the iNEAR program: seven-lessons integrated into the PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, and Economic) National Curriculum with activities scheduled throughout the academic year. The iNEAR programme facilitates the formation of positive identities, character strengths, and resilience through the acquisition of skills for growth and flourishing (Tunariu, 2015).

N: New knowledge about myself;

E: Emotional resources and emotional intelligence;

A: Awareness of values, of options, of choice; and

R: Responding with growth ‘in spite of …’.

Optimism can be taught (Schutte and Malouff, 2017) via cognitive restructuring to inform the way of thinking and acting (Carver et al., 2010; Carver and Scheier, 2014).

1. Best Possible self - a visualisation exercises. “Imagine yourself in the future after everything has gone as well as it possibly could. You have worked hard and reached your goals. Now think of a typical day as your best possible self and write continuously for 15 minutes. Don’t worry about grammar, just write.” Students then reflect on what they wrote, to imagine and live the day in their minds for 5 minutes.
   
   
2. Dream It! Targeted at K-6 children. (Stoll and Williams, 2018 cited in Jacquez et al., 2020) fostering optimistic thinking – differentiating dreaming and dreams of your future followed by organisation of dreams, utilisation, construct, feasibility, inspiration and action.
   
   
3. Journalling positive events (Carter et al., 2018) – noting three good things with causal explanations

Emotional Intelligence c an be taught through explicit Social-Emotional lessons, short activities in class or implicitly through staff modelling and interactions.

1. My Friends Program; 10x 45 minute sessions targeting coping, emotional awareness, relaxation, self-talk, challenging negative thoughts, problem-solving, importance of practice, combined with 2 x parent workshops (Kozina, 2020)
   
   
2. PREDEMA classroom program is an emotional intelligence program targeting emotional awareness, facilitation and management with the integration of personal experiences geared toward meaningful learning
   
   
3. Help students develop Emotional literacy (Francis et al., 2020) through Reflection and Validation student's perspective and emotions attached, without judgement, counter arguments, or problem-solving. "it seems like you are experiencing a sense of betrayal.... disappointment.... unfairness...... overwhelm..... provocation."
   
   
   
4. Listening to stories and metaphors tasked with describing and mapping emotions on positive/negative and high/low arousal grid
   
   
5. INTEMO project – a curriculum focused on improving empathy and conflict resolution skills (see full program Ruiz-Aranda et al., 2008)
   
   
6. EDI program (Viguer et al., 2017) Components targeting intrapersonal skills (perceiving and expressing emotions and self-compassion), interpersonal skills (assertiveness, empathy, taking responsibility for one's emotions in relationships, problem solving), emotional regulation (tolerance and stress management) and mood (positive thinking strategies and optimistic thoughts).
   
   
7. Check out the Pursuit of Happiness.org 18-session consortium
   
   
   
8. Heartfulness program for Schools (HPS) - curriculum focused on relaxation techniques, social-emotional learning activities, and journalling as a self-reflection exercise.

Affirmations boost positive affect, student engagement, foster optimistic thinking, and reduce depressive symptoms.

1. ‘Sun of the Week’ (Goldberg et al., 2020; Elfrink et al., 2016) is an exercise that sees a child nominated each day, who is to receive personalised compliments from their peers (pre-school application).
   
   
2. ‘Golden Button’ involves a child who is anonymously nominated to be the keeper of the button who is tasked to give compliments to his peers.
   
   
3. Encourage a class positive events diary and celebrate the small milestones for each student, and as a whole class.