Section 3: Mental health and wellbeing in your school
Section 3: Mental health and wellbeing in your school
Wednesday, 03 March 2021
This section will provide young people with the space to discuss the impact Covid-19 may have had on their school life. It will also explore what affect this may be having on their mental health.
In seeking balance, it’s important to acknowledge the impact may have been both positive and negative.
Learning intentions:
- Gain an understanding of the impact of Covid-19 on young people’s mental health and wellbeing
- Create a space where conversations around mental health are normalised
- Bring awareness to the supports that are available to young people.
What you’ll find
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resources2 downloads
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multimedia2 videos
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activities3 class activities and discussions
Mental health and wellbeing in your school
Using these resources and activities with young people will provide an opportunity to discuss the impact Covid-19 may have had on them, exploring both positive and negative impacts and how life at school has changed. It will also provide them with important information on how and where they can access support if they need it.
What springs to mind?
Ask the group to work together to mind-map what springs to mind when they hear the term “Covid-19”. Add to this by considering how life at school has been impacted by Covid-19.
Use the responses to encourage the class to think about the different experiences that young people have had over the past few months. Focus on both positive and negative experiences.
Joe's story - Scenario and think tank
This video will enable the class to discuss the different ways that young people may be experiencing certain situations, by discussing some true to life scenarios.
Give the class the chance to discuss Joe’s scenario and work in a group to answer the think tank questions.
Please note that Joe’s story may be more suitable for Junior Cycle students.
You can download the think tank PDF below.
Rachel's story - scenario and think tank
This second scenario will enable the class to discuss the different ways that young people may be experiencing certain situations.
Give the class the chance to discuss Rachel’s scenario and work in a group to answer the think tank questions.
Please note that Rachel’s story may be more suitable for Senior Cycle students.
You can download the think tank PDF below.
Reflective practice
After delivering the resources from this section, consider some of the following questions to help consolidate your learning.
- How did you feel before this lesson? (e.g. nervous, prepared, confident, etc.) What influenced how you were feeling in advance of this lesson? Did this have any impact on the lesson?
- What was the most successful part of this lesson, and why? What learning could you utilise in the future when delivering resources from this toolkit as part of a mental health and wellbeing lesson?
- How did you know the young people were interested and engaged during the lesson?
- Did any challenges arise during the lesson? If yes, why did they arise? How did you address the challenges you encountered and were you satisfied with how you managed the challenges? Is any further follow-up required?
- In terms of using the resources provided in the youth mental health and wellbeing toolkit, what are your next steps?
Support at Jigsaw
Jigsaw offers a variety of ways for young people to seek support.
These include articles on issues that might be affecting young people, the opportunity to join live chat or to link in directly with a Jigsaw clinician.
Encourage the class to visit jigsaw.ie to find out more or visit the website to explore as a class.
Find out more about different forms of support.
Support documents
Move on to section 4: Managing feelings
This section should have supported young people to explore the impact that Covid-19 may have had on their mental health while also bringing awareness to the supports that are currently available.
The next section, managing feelings, will support young people to identify difficult feelings and introduce some strategies to manage these.
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