Wellbeing & Personal Development

At Cicero Education, we want to emphasise the importance that all children and young people need to look after their own wellbeing and personal development.

Wellbeing and personal development should be at the core of any educational establishment. Indeed, schools and colleges should afford appropriate time and importance, via their PSHE and RSE schemes of work, and as part of their assembly programmes, to ensure that all children are aware of who they are and where they can find help. This is vital to look after their mental health. The school's pastoral structure should encourage students of any age to learn more about themselves, to speak up when help is needed, and to look out for others within their community.

‍Wellbeing

"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!" (Audrey Hepburn)

Everyone has an important role to play in assisting children to manage their emotional and physical wellbeing. It is their wellbeing that enables them to fully flourish. We owe it to our children to ensure that they understand the merits of self-worth and self-confidence so that they are comfortable being themselves. Understanding, and ultimately managing, their own feelings and emotions will lead to them being comfortable sharing their concerns and worries. It is through forming and maintaining strong relationships and developing emotional resilience that children are able to manage their setbacks and get back up again ready to succeed. Learning through health and wellbeing empowers the mind to make informed decisions which improve children's emotional, mental, physical and social wellbeing.

‍

Here are some recommended practical ideas for promoting young children's wellbeing:-  

·       Give them plenty of opportunities to be creative through art, music or play.

·       Children love to play outside and will learn through climbing, discovery and exploration.

·       Get involved with their play, helping them to learn and explore.

·       Giving your children time to rest and be settled so they can recognise calmness, and its merits.

·       Having enough sleep and going to bed in a tranquil and relaxed manner, free from gadgets and screens.

·       Try to use appropriate emotional language in your conversations so that they learn to understand their own feelings.

‍

Personal Development

"Be yourself, everyone else is taken" (Oscar Wilde)

There are a number of important elements that children need to establish whilst growing up:-

·      developing social interaction skills;

·      understanding their own strengths and weaknesses, and their own independence;

·      becoming informed, active and responsible citizens;

·      and possessing the skills needed to lead a healthy lifestyle, for both their body and their mind.

Long term personal happiness and academic success are only achievable based upon a foundation of self confidence, social awareness, resilience and emotional intelligence. Children need to feel at ease with themselves and their surroundings. They need to gain the necessary perseverance to keep going when failure initially knocks on the door, and they aim to free themselves of emotional tensions. As many coaches suggest, we should treat our confidence as a muscle; we need to work on it in order for it to strengthen.

We want our children to become the best version of themselves that is possible. Whenever negative thoughts enter their heads, they need to train themselves to think of recent successes or talents that they possess. Turning down the volume on these negative thoughts and listening intently to the positive ones will assist with their resilience-building. All of us have special qualities that make us, us and we therefore want our children to learn how to believe in themselves and to celebrate and to cherish their differences.

‍

‍