Launched at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in February 2019, we are proud to be New Zealand's first Visible Wellbeing School. Visible Wellbeing (VWB) is a whole school, integrated, and evidence-informed approach to developing and sustaining student and staff wellbeing through positive education.
The Search framework, developed by Professor Lea Waters, has prioritised the following domains of wellbeing:
STRENGTHS
Strengths can be thought of as personal characteristics – including personality traits, physical and psychological abilities, and moral qualities – that feel natural and enjoyable, and allow them to perform at their best. They are capacities, characteristics, and processes that are energizing and authentic to use.
Activities:
Players can each choose a strength that they used to help them in the game or training, and give a brief statement to explain how they used that strength
If there is more time available, players can point out which strengths the other players used during the game or training
EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT
Our feelings can also impact how our body functions. They are influenced by our circumstances, thoughts, and physiology. Being present with one’s emotions and being able to identify, understand, and manage one’s emotions (i.e. reduce their negative emotions and increase their positive emotions), is a key aspect of positive functioning.
Activities:
Use music to support and regulate emotions – if the team needs to relax then put on a slower song, or if the team needs to be pumped up then put on a song to get everyone going
Have a dance-off as part of the warm-up – each player picks a dance move and the whole team has to copy it – it helps to get the team moving together and ready for the game
ATTENTION AND AWARENESS
Attention is our ability to focus, whether on inner aspects of self, such as emotions and physical sensations or on external stimuli (e.g. the teacher’s lesson in a classroom). Awareness refers to the ability to pay attention to a stimulus as it occurs. Wellbeing is improved when individuals are aware of, and can consciously direct their attention.
Activities:
Play Simon Says as part of the warm-up – this will help with increasing attention and focus
Do some mindfulness breathing as a team – close your eyes, and take some deep breaths. All of their attention is purposefully drawn to the present moment, ready to focus on the task at hand.
RELATIONSHIPS
A student’s social skills play an important role in allowing her to develop nourishing relationships with others. This domain involves helping students to understand, express, and manage the social aspects of their learning.
Activities:
Check-in with your teammates when you first get to training or a game – this will help to build relationships between each of you
Use ‘social spreading’ which is where team members can send motivational messages to each other through a form of social media. This will keep the whole team motivated for the season
COPING
Having the resilience to cope with adversity is an essential life skill. Coping can be thought of as being able to balance the demands of life with the resources we have to manage those demands, and being able to bounce back when we get thrown off balance.
Activities:
When a problem arises, get the players to ask themselves the 3 Ps – is it personal? Is it pervasive? Is it permanent? This will help to produce optimism
Putting on your positive shirt – at the beginning of training, or before starting team talk, each player should put on their imaginary positivity shirt. If everyone is positive, then the team will be able to deal with situations easier
HABITS AND GOALS
Habits are those automatic processes that we do without even thinking about them – they can be both beneficial and detrimental to our wellbeing. Knowing how to break bad, and create good, habits can help us progress towards our goals. When we set goals it can provide us with a sense of purpose, mastery, and direction in life.
Activities:
Have the team create affirmation cards with a growth mindset and grit statements e.g. ‘When I try hard, I improve’ – this will help to reset the team and bring the focus back to the goals
Use videos, quotes, and pictures to remind girls of positive and inspiring things to help them set their own personal goals
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