Wellbeing at St Fergal’s N.S

The promotion of wellbeing is central to the Department of Education’s mission to enable children

and young people to achieve their full potential and contribute to Ireland’s social, cultural and

economic development. Schools play a vital role in the promotion of wellbeing through a range of

activities and approaches to support the academic, physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual

development of all children and young people. Our education system is key to equipping children

and young people with the knowledge, skills and competencies to deal with challenges that impact

on their wellbeing (Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice, 2018).

In the school environment, social and emotional skills do not exist in isolation but interact with

cognitive skills development. The role of the school is now understood as a place which develops the

‘whole child’, who should leave school with a balanced set of cognitive, social and emotional skills to

face the challenges of the 21st century (OECD 2014). Schools play a key role in developing and

enhancing young people’s wellbeing as they spend a large proportion of their time in school during

their formative years. Children and young people learn more effectively and have better academic

outcomes if they are happy in their work, believe in themselves and feel acknowledged and

supported in their schools. National and international research highlights that the wellbeing of our

children and young people is critical to their success in education and in life (Wellbeing Policy

Statement and Framework for Practice, 2018).

The Wellbeing of our pupils is very important to us here at St Fergal’s and there has been an

emphasis on Wellbeing in schools in recent years. As a result of this we are planning monthly

Wellbeing themes which will be covered by all classes in the school. We will update you on each of

the themes at the start of the month so that you can have an opportunity to talk to your children on

each of the themes.