Wellness

Palliser's Wellness Goal:

Palliser students will become literate in mental health, gaining knowledge and understanding that will provide them confidence and support in their pursuit of living a healthy life.

Palliser School Division highly values the overall well-being of our students. We believe that healthy children are better equipped to learn and grow to their full potential. Using the Comprehensive School Health Framework, Palliser has developed a division wide wellness framework that emphasizes positive mental, physical and nutritional health. In particular, the framework includes a commitment to seeing our students become literate in mental health, gaining knowledge and understanding that will provide them confidence and support in their pursuit of living a healthy life.

Initially our key strategies will focus on the following aspects of mental health for our students:

  • Decreasing stigma

  • Building Wellness Awareness and Capacity

  • Explicit instruction for students related to obtaining and maintaining good Mental Health, including encouraging self-efficacy

  • Support Mental Health literacy for students through updated policy/processes

Palliser's Wellness Framework

Vision

Palliser School Division will encourage students to thrive in all dimensions of wellness

Mission

The purpose of this framework is to provide a long term plan that supports the vision

by:

  • Providing proactive strategies that help students flourish in all aspects of wellness

  • Building capacity in staff to support wellness

  • Creating community partnerships that support and sustain student wellness

  • Creating common language and practice to build shared understanding

Palliser Wellness Goal 2019-2020:

Definition of Wellness

https://education.alberta.ca/media/160218/framework_kto12well.pdf

The vision of wellness education in Alberta is for students to be educated, informed and contributing members of society and to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to be well in every sense of the word—emotionally, intellectually, physically, socially and spiritually.

Dimensions of Wellness

Alberta Education outlines the seven dimensions of wellness as:.

Emotional wellness is acknowledging, understanding, managing and expressing thoughts and feelings in a constructive manner.

Social wellness is relating positively to others and is influenced by many factors including how individuals communicate, establish and maintain relationships, are treated by others and interpret that treatment.

Intellectual wellness is the development and the critical and creative use of the mind to its fullest potential.

Physical wellness is the ability, motivation and confidence to move effectively and efficiently in a variety of situations, and the healthy growth, development, nutrition and care of the body.

Environmental wellness is the ability to recognize our own responsibility for the quality of the air, the water and the land that surrounds us. The ability to make a positive impact on the quality of our environment, be it our homes, our communities or our planet contributes to our Environmental Wellness.

Spiritual wellness is an understanding of one’s own values and beliefs leading to a sense of meaning or purpose and a relationship to the community.

Occupational wellness is the ability to get personal fulfillment from our jobs or our chosen career fields while still maintaining balance in our lives. Our desire to contribute in our careers to make a positive impact on the organizations we work in and to society as a whole leads to Occupational Wellness.

COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL HEALTH FRAMEWORK

One of the primary vehicles for achieving the vision and mission above is the Comprehensive School Framework (CSH). The Joint Consortium for School Health describes Comprehensive School Health as “an approach rather than a program or initiative. An internationally recognized framework, CSH addresses school health in a planned, integrated, and holistic way in order to support improvements in student achievement and well-being.” The following video provides further information about CSH.

Information regarding Comprehensive School Health is also available at:

http://www.jcsh-cces.ca/index.php/about/comprehensive-school-health and

http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/csh

Strategic Plan

Social and Physical Environment

School communities will promote a culture of wellness focusing on eight conditions including:

  • Safety

  • Regulation

  • Belonging

  • Positivity

  • Engagement

  • Identity

  • Mastery

  • Meaning

1. Continued emphasis on leadership and mentorship. Wellness committee will establish long term vision and changes moving forward.

2. Central office will provide direction with research based resources. Staff will build capacity regarding evidence based resources for social and physical environments.

3. Schools will strive toward play areas that promote “activeness” and a reflection of the natural world.

4. Schools will strive towards providing environments that promote healthy spaces.

5. Schools will strive toward providing extra curricular activities (and clubs) that promote connectedness and physical and/or social well being.

Teaching and Learning

1. Create a common understanding of Wellness and its implications on student achievement. This understanding is holistic in nature and rooted in a whole child approach.

2. Create a repository of evidence based programming for staff to access.

3. Whole School Approach - A whole-school approach is inclusive of all school staff, students and education partners and touches all aspects of school life. It should promote positive mental health and academic achievement - and includes social-emotional learning in school practices, policies and partnerships.

Recommended whole school approaches include:

  • Comprehensive school health

  • Response to intervention

  • Self regulation

  • Trauma-informed practice

  • Restorative practices

  • Social-emotional learning

  • Positive behaviour supports

  • Mentoring

  • Student advisories

  • Peer networks

  • Bullying prevention

  • Service learning

  • Digital citizenship

4. Integrate wellness across all curricula and weave the principles into classroom practices.

5. Provide education on the importance of nutrition, sleep and rest as part of proper cognitive function. A healthy lifestyle and daily physical activity vs. weight control/body shaming and competition.

6. Provide Professional Development support for Palliser Staff to build wellness capacity.

7. Build the capacity of the health champion network and make it a pivotal role in whole school health initiatives.

Policy and Process

Please see AP 309, 310 & 352

1. All schools will develop a goal based on the 7 dimensions of wellness which fits within their community context.

2. All schools will establish a wellness committee which is responsible for the oversight of wellness initiatives. This committee is responsible for raising awareness of programs that exist within Palliser.

3. School administration will ensure time is allocated at staff meetings for updates and collaboration regarding wellness for both staff and students.

4. Palliser will develop/update Administrative Procedures for wellness in conjunction with the wellness committee on a regular basis.

5. Palliser will implement district wide report cards which will include a report to parents regarding Social Emotional Learning

6. Palliser will utilize assessment tools such as Our School surveys, accountability pillars and other evaluation resources to collect and review data for continuous growth.

7. Palliser will continue to develop a meaningful process to support student attendance.

Partnerships and Services

Promoting Wellness through System Collaboration

  1. Work with Palliser Administrative Council and Wellness Champions to develop a grassroots and collaborative culture of wellness in Palliser schools. The intent is to deepen knowledge and understanding of proactive approaches to Wellness throughout the division. Schools are encouraged to be creative and collaborative in their approaches to Wellness.

  2. Create a cohesive school wellness champion network that includes Learning Support Teachers (LST), Family School Liaison Coordinators (FSLC), Coordinator of Counselling and Health Champions as identified by Principals.

Promoting Wellness in partnership with Community

  1. Conduct a pilot project/research partnership in conjunction with the University of Calgary and the Health Promotion Facilitators (Alberta Health Services) to measure the impact of intentional implementation of wellness strategies in Palliser schools.

  2. Foster relationships with external organizations that promote and facilitate proactive wellness strategies. Teen Mental Health, Ever Active Schools, etc

Promoting Wellness in partnership with Family

  1. Create a partnership with parents that educates and informs them about all facets of wellness within the local school context.

System supports

  1. Individual school staff will collaborate to build capacity and awareness of system supports in Palliser.

  2. FSLC’s and behaviour specialist will emphasize prevention and proactive work regarding wellness as part of their role.

  3. Family Connections Worker(s) (FCW) will facilitate partnerships between school, family and community. Seek long term funding for FCW’s in three regions of Palliser.

Community Supports

  1. Build staff capacity and create awareness of community supports for wellness. This includes mapping of available and appropriate support in each of our communities.