This year at St John the Baptist BNS, we are working to retain our Amber Flag. The Amber Flag initiative, which is run by Pieta House, celebrates schools and communities that create healthy, supportive and inclusive environments by promoting mental well-being. As a school staff, we are committed to creating a safer space for our students to express themselves, seek help and support each other. By facilitating ‘Feel Good Fridays’ and a Wellbeing Week, we gave the boys many opportunities to focus on their mental, emotional and social wellbeing by engaging in fun and mindful activities.
Our ‘Feel Good Fridays’ ran over five weeks from February 28th - March 28th. Each Friday morning, there was upbeat music playing in the corridors as the boys walked into school. The following ‘Feel Good Friday’ activities took place;
Wellbeing poster competition
Walk a mile with a smile
Mindful videos
Bring your favourite toy to school
Wellbeing assembly with guest speakers.
Suzanne Brosnan from the library read, danced and sang with the Junior End.
Eoghan Dunne, Oisin O’Donoghue and Ronan Connolly (Cashel King Cormac’s GAA Players) answered wellbeing-themed questions for Senior End.
Wellbeing Week took place from March 31st - April 4th. The boys completed wellbeing homework, where they chose a nice activity to complete each evening, such as playing outside, baking, chatting to a family member about their day, etc. The following activities took place in school throughout our Wellbeing Week;
Pyjamas/Cozy Clothes Day - Children watched the movie Inside Out 1/ Inside Out 2. They were given focus questions before the movie and a discussion about all of the feelings and emotions took place after the movie. Each boy got a bag of popcorn.
Co-operative Games - Each class played three co-operative games in the hall where they had to work as a team to complete challenges. The boys in our school on the amber flag committee led these games.
Bouncy Castle - Each class spent time on a bouncy castle.
Wellbeing Workshops - Each class took part in a wellbeing workshop led by wellbeing facilitator, Una Curran. The boys learned how to cope with various feelings and learned some useful strategies that could help them deal with their emotions.
Both staff and pupils really enjoyed all the initiatives by the Amber Flag committee so a sincere thanks and well done to Rebecca Curry, Laura Stapleton, Eimear Irwin and Paudie O' Carroll.
