From the Leader of Learning Wellbeing Year 8

In the Year 8 Wellbeing Lesson on Monday, 27th July, the theme was how positive emotions build resilience. A resilient person recovers easily and quickly from misfortune or illness and that is why it is important to teach Year 8 these important facts. 

The Lesson began with students identifying and defining both positive and negative emotions. According to the Learning Planner (p.134) students need to be aware and understand how their emotions enable them to be in charge of their feelings and be conscious of the body language used when dealing with other people.

On page 135 of the Learning Planner there is a list of positive emotions that the students used to develop their own student profile by creating an acrostic poem using their names. These poems made students aware of the positive emotions they already have and ones that they would like to develop in themselves in the future.

Monday’s lesson aimed to create personal growth in students and thus I shared the following quote from St Frances de Sales;

"Do not wish to be anything but what you are and try to be that perfectly."

As St Andrews College is a Catholic school we stress always that God has made every person uniquely and is loved by God. Consequently we have the capacity to do great things for God here on earth. 

Students were asked to think of a time when they brought great joy to a person and also a time when they could have stepped up and been a better person for others.

In order to be a person for others it is important to engage in positive self-talk. This spurs people on to lift their efforts to learn and try new approaches to problems; to overcome challenges and setbacks that life throws at all of us. Positive self-talk enables students to experience uplifting positive emotions, which improves student wellbeing and thus they become their best possible self.

On page 136 of the Learning Planner there are examples of positive self-talk that students may use in the future. Consequently, in the latter part of the Lesson students created their own palm cards which stated the positive phrases of “I will ….“ and “I can ….“ These completed palm cards can be placed in their Student Planner or on their study desk at home.

One of the last Learning Activities in Monday’s Wellbeing Lesson was for students to set personal goals for Term Three. These can be found on page 71 of the Learning Planner.

"No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on and it will be better tomorrow" Maya Angelou.

Another wonderful quote, which was shared with the students. It is a great encouragement for someone who is facing a difficult and challenging time. The purpose of the lesson was to reveal how important it is to always think in the positive, dispel the negative and to encourage others for their own and our mental health.

Melissa Blackwell  
Leader of Learning Wellbeing Year 8

Student thoughts on Positive Emotions

Positive emotions are the emotions which lack a sense of negativity and bleakness. Positive emotions are the emotions that you get and feel when being rewarded or when you are trying to overcome something. Whenever you are feeling stressed or sad try to enlighten yourself by listening to music or doing some calming activity. When you do these calming activities positive emotions are coming in which is also another way for you to become a stronger and resilient person. Positive Emotions in my eyes are feelings which everyone should be perceiving at all times. Resilience is a very important thing to maintain in the development of a teenager because this is the time where you evolve and grow as a person. Keeping yourself positive in this period of time would be the best for you and your health. 

Mayoori Ramesh

I think setting a goal and having a positive mindset is the most important thing because without a goal you have nothing to work towards or look forward to. Having a positive mindset helps you achieve these goals as it makes you more motivated and confident with your choices and actions. This builds resilience because going through all these things builds up your courage therefore builds up your inner strength.

Amber Kahlon