To mark Children’s Mental Health Week, we are continuing our series of blogs exploring how Scotland’s independent schools are supporting the wellbeing of their pupils.
In this blog, we look at the ways Ardvreck School are supporting pupil mental health and wellbeing year-round. Their Head of Pupil Welfare, Sarah Mannion, explains how wellbeing is a central focus for the school.
The link between environment & wellbeing
The restorative and therapeutic effects of spending time in greenspace for mental health and wellbeing purposes has become more widely understood and valued in recent years. Ardvreck School, set in 40 acres, surrounded by stunning views of high mountains, fields and ancient woodland, is incomparable in its location. It has greenspace by the bucketload, and every single pupil uses it on a daily basis.
The school tradition of spending time outdoors is what makes Ardvreck special. There is a whole-school approach to planning and delivering an outstanding programme of balanced learning activity in order to provide developmental experiences, build resilience and to enhance pupil confidence, progressions, self-esteem and wellbeing.
Read more about the value of greenspace at Ardvreck School here.
Building resilience
Wellbeing covers many things, but ‘resilience’ – which plays a large part – is really important and something that we value very highly. With resilience, some of our past pupils have gone on to conquer some of the world’s highest mountains, win medals in the Olympics, and set up successful businesses all over the world.
Without resilience there is fear of failure, lack of confidence, unwillingness to try without support and no long-term drive or persistence towards reaching a goal.
Time spent in greenspace is known to be a facilitator of mental health and wellbeing, reducing stress, and lowering heart rates. At Ardvreck, we take the wellbeing of our pupils as seriously as we take academic and sporting achievements.
Read more about the Ardvreck School resilience approach here.
Spending time outdoors immersed in nature enhances concentration and learning, improving attention span and the ability to retain information. Our pupils are resilient, they work hard, play hard, and achieve excellent results in their examinations for senior school entrance to the very best schools across the UK.
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