Supporting positive mental health
Each Wednesday superintendents from around our region offer insights and news on the school system.
Ask any parent what they want for their children and most would say, “I want them to be healthy and happy.” When it comes to mental health, this simple response can be much more complicated and difficult to attain for some children, youth and families.
More than ever before, educators are recognizing and responding to the growing needs of supporting mental health in schools to support all students. Alberta Education has collaboratively developed a resource to support mental health planning in schools called “Working Together to Support Mental Health in Alberta Schools.” Building capacity and understanding how to best support our students with mental-health needs is a shared responsibility.
Southwest Regional Collaborative Service Delivery (SWRCSD) is in its fourth year of bringing ministries together to address the needs and gaps in services for all students in both urban and rural settings. RCSD partners are continually addressing the mental-health needs of children, youth and families and have responded by offering professional learning opportunities to support challenging behaviours, suicide intervention training, violence risk and threat assessment training, supporting valued individual attachments (SIVA) training and more. These opportunities are offered to staff members across all ministries (Alberta Education, Alberta Children’s Services, Alberta Health Services and Alberta Community and Social Services). Providing these opportunities ensures that professional staff working with children have equitable learning opportunities, share information, use a strengths-based approach, and use common similar language. The priority is focused on best practices in working with children and families needing mental health supports and services.
Self-care is increasingly important for those of us who work closely with children who are struggling. Specifically, parents, teachers, counsellors and caregivers must make sure to have an established support system and a focus on personal wellness. We know that our greatest success stories for our children start with safe, calm and consistent environments with caring and supportive adults.
Recognizing our own needs for emotional and mental wellbeing is the first step in modelling and supporting healthy brain development and functioning for our children. If we are continuously expecting better outcomes for our students and teachers, we need to continuously change and adapt the structures in place in order for them to achieve those outcomes.
The collaboration across our ministries is making great strides to changing our structures to reflect the needs of our students, staff and families. Recognizing the barriers, addressing the gaps in services, and taking care of the adults working with our children are important steps in the process of achieving better outcomes for all students.