Mental Health and Wellbeing - 5 Steps - Learning

Hello everyone, welcome to our next wellbeing blog. 

This month we are focussing on ‘Keep Learning’.

At Prospect House, we have used the ‘5 ways to wellbeing’ as a framework for our approach to Mental health and wellbeing. This comprises of

5 different elements:

Connect - Making time for relationships with friends, family and colleagues and elsewhere within your community.

Be active - Exercising, physical activity and enjoying good health.

Take notice - Being aware of the world around you and reflecting on your

experiences.

Keep learning - Trying new things and challenging yourself.

Give - Doing something nice for others, volunteering, making yourself

and others happy

Whoever we are and whatever our role, we all need support from the

people around us. In a school this includes teachers, senior leaders,

support staff, pupils and parents.

Taking a holistic approach means looking after the whole person, respecting and supporting them, and valuing their unique experience and

contributions - the opposite of a ‘one size fits all’ approach.

In practice, this means:

• Providing support for colleagues to meet their individual needs.

• Being a role model for wellbeing wherever possible.

• Removing stigma attached to concern for wellbeing.

• Talking openly about wellbeing and mental health.

• Asking for help and encouraging others to do the same.

• Positive thinking and believing the best about others.

Our next area we would like to focus on is: Keep learning

Continued learning through life enhances self-esteem and encourages social interaction and a more active life.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the opportunity to engage in work or educational activities particularly helps to lift older people out of depression.

The practice of setting goals, which is related to adult learning in particular, has been strongly associated with higher levels of wellbeing.

Why not learn something new today?

Here are some ideas you could try:

· Try new things – a hobby, a work task, or simply a new life skill.

· Challenge yourself.

· Learn what makes you feel confident and prepares you for the day ahead.

· Celebrate your successes and build on them.

· Find out something about your colleagues

· Sign up for a class

· Read the news or a book

· Set up a book club

· Do a crossword or Sudoku

· Research something you’ve always wondered about

· Learn a new word.