Why wellbeing shouldn`t be planned for 1 hour on a Wednesday
Wellbeing is an essential aspect of overall development and success for individuals, and it impacts several areas of life, including physical health, mental health, social relationships, and academic performance. Thus, it is crucial to integrate wellbeing concepts across various subjects or disciplines in education. Here are some reasons why wellbeing should be cross-curricular:
Holistic Development
Wellbeing is a crucial component of overall development, and it cannot be limited to one subject or discipline. Integrating wellbeing concepts across different subjects can help students develop a holistic understanding of wellbeing and its various dimensions, including physical, emotional, social, and cognitive wellbeing.
Enhances Learning
Students who are emotionally and mentally healthy are more likely to perform better academically. By incorporating wellbeing concepts into different subjects, educators can create a positive and engaging learning environment that promotes student wellbeing and enhances learning.
Promotes life skills
Wellbeing encompasses several life skills, such as self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, resilience, and decision-making. These skills are essential for personal and academic success, and integrating wellbeing concepts across different subjects can help students develop and practice these skills.
Addresses real-world issues:
Wellbeing is a critical issue that affects individuals, communities, and society as a whole. By integrating wellbeing concepts into different subjects, educators can help students understand and address real-world issues related to wellbeing, such as mental health, physical health, social justice, and environmental sustainability.
We should be trying to weave these wellbeing themes into all our topics. Some schools such as Ysgol Cwm Brombil have gone a step further and created half term wellbeing projects with themes such as belonging. A project aimed at developing their schools values that can be explored and understood through a number of different cross curricular lessons.
