Focusing on Wellness at Victor Mager School
From the beginning of the year, the team at Victor Mager School has been working toward keeping health, wellness, and well-being at the centre of all school goals and activities. Whether it be including wellness activities at every staff meeting and during professional development days, coming together for paint nights or celebrating accomplishments, the school community is continuing to work toward creating a place of balance for all.
At the start of the year, Victor Mager School asked students important questions connected to their own sense of wellness using Our SCHOOL Survey. They also conducted a comprehensive wellness audit to collect important data identifying community needs and considerations for programming. The school team continues to explore opportunities for students to participate in lessons which support regulation, resiliency, and a growth mindset through explorations of breathing techniques, mindful movement, and strategies to support social-emotional learning. One example was the exploration of Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) and how they may impact the brain and the body.
With the support of school psychologist Colleen Prystenski, the team learned about the power of thoughts and how they impact feelings and behaviours. During a specific learning session with Colleen, the team worked on strategies for identifying and reframing thoughts like “I’ll never be good enough” and “everyone is going to get sick” that drive negative thought patterns such as feelings of anxiety and stress. The middle years team has also worked with Colleen to identify specific needs as shared by students through data collected from the Our SCHOOL Survey. The collaboration introduced resources that normalize and destigmatize emotions such as anxiety and stress while building the capacity to seek help and engage in healthy practices. By working toward meeting the needs of students during a global pandemic, the team identified dynamic resources that allowed for students’ independent exploration of their well-being, such as virtual classrooms for Middle Years Wellness and Elementary Wellness.
Most recently, Victor Mager School hosted a very successful Wellness Day event on Wednesday, March 23. This day began as a collaborative planning effort shared amongst staff, school clinicians, divisional support teams, nurse health practitioners and students. Under the theme of The Human Brain, the school community welcomed Michael Champagne to help launch the big day. Wellness Day provided a full day of experiences which promoted and supported students’ overall sense of wellness. Throughout the day, students were involved in several joyful experiences and learned many strategies to support their health and well-being.
At the end of this important and engaging day, students took home personalized wellness kits which included items connected to the different activity stations. The kits provided new ways to stay connected, be active, and to participate in healthy activities with their loved ones during Spring Break.