SISHK believes in the culture of well-being among our school community to help us flourish in both the academic and social realms. We believe that student well-being is just as important as academic success.
Our school adopted the Well-Being Fitness Model in 2020 as the framework for supporting and enhancing well-being in the school to align with our school’s vision and mission. The model has four pillars (as shown in the image below): Strength, Flexibility, Endurance and Teamwork. We define student well-being as finding a balance between the affective, behavioural and cognitive development of learning and aspiring towards having a values-driven and meaningful life. The Student Well-Being (“SWB”) Team is committed to supporting our students’ well-being and providing supportive services to students. We also understand that well-being can mean different things at different times to each student.
Some of the SWB programmes to support our students’ well-being are shown below.
Well-Being Days
The school is committed to supporting the mental health and well-being of students, and throughout the school year, we have Well-Being Days dedicated to celebrate exactly that. At the start of the year, we focused on raising the awareness of well-being by creating activities for students, their families and teachers. Based on our school’s needs, Well-Being Days evolve around the current needs of the students in the school year. One of the students’ favourite activities is chalk-drawing. For Academic Year 2022/23, we are focusing on exploring our personal character strengths and developing them further.
Care Ambassadors
The Care Ambassador Programme is an initiative to help our students develop a healthy sense of self, positive peer relationships and a respectful understanding of the world. We empower our Care Ambassador to take a proactive role in caring for their peers and positively influence others. They go through a 10-week training course and provide support to students to build a fruitful school life together. By volunteering during recess, they demonstrate that they have the power to make a difference. You can find them hosting board game sessions at our Hangout Lounge, or lending a helping hand at the Friendship Bench
Kickstart Mornings
Our school counsellors run “Kickstart Mornings” twice a week for P5 and P6 students before the start of the school day. The goal is to recharge and energise students’ bodies and minds to get them ready for learning. We hope that the students can develop a sense of self-awareness with opportunities for self-reflection to improve their overall well-being. One of the most important goals is to have fun to kickstart the day!
As we run the sessions, we build a trusting relationship so students can express themselves in a safe environment. We learn to listen attentively and show support to each other’s needs. We usually start with a check-in to see how everyone is doing. The activities are both active and calming. Towards the end, we encourage the students to do a self-reflection exercise, such as what do they need for today or is there anything they like or dislike in particular. We hope that students can find a balance between their studies and other interests.
Hang Out Lounge
The Hang Out Lounge is open twice a week during recess for P3 to P6 students. Students can engage in arts and crafts work, board games, different forms of unstructured play or simply “hang out” (hence the name!) with their friends. Engaging in different forms of unstructured play helps our students’ development of self-awareness, emotional regulation, creativity and – most importantly – friendship. It provides them an option of a quieter environment in addition to the more energetic alternatives in the outdoor venues. Not only does it offer them a cozy place for their sensory system to take a break and self-regulate, it also gives the students a place to process, organize, and synthesize new knowledge learnt.
Counselling
As counsellors, we have the privilege of supporting all our students through well-being initiatives in which we work very closely with teachers and school leaders. We are committed to encouraging and supporting all students to be their best selves by adopting a positive psychology approach which involves exploring “what is right’’ and recognising students’ character strengths and helping them to use them in new ways and, in the process, making them feel heard, seen and appreciated for who they are.
We do not diagnose or provide psychotherapy – instead we work to provide temporary support to help students overcome issues which may be having an impact on their school performance. In this sense, we are a resource just like the school nurse, who is here to provide help but would seek external assistance for more serious problems. We are able to provide a list of outside agencies, including family therapy and mental health counsellors, if you ever need them.
A school counsellor provides emotional support, and works alongside students, teachers and parents to teach problem-solving and coping skills in a safe and confidential setting. The latter is an important aspect in establishing a trusting relationship with students. Generally 1-on-1 sessions last 30 minutes and are arranged across different subjects so that there is minimal disruption to the students’ learning.