Hello and welcome back to 2023!  The school term is well under-way and I wanted to let you know the focus Mental Health and Wellbeing focus for each year group.  Three activities per term are run during our extended mentor class on Tuesday mornings and are designed to help students build connections with their mentor teacher and peers.

I’m often asked about how to build self-esteem in young people and my own private study on this topic has led me to understand the importance of setting small, achievable goals and then celebrating efforts made towards them. Below is an article from Reach-Out Schools about building self-esteem in our teens.

Improving self-esteem and confidence in your child usually starts with identifying why they might feel down about themselves in the first place. In some instances, their feelings can be directly related to their interpretation of an event such as failing an exam or a break up. By helping your child to understand that almost everyone has these kinds of experiences at some point, they can start to feel better.

Some useful strategies that you can try:

• Talk about the difficulties they are facing.
• Speak their language – teenagers are often more comfortable communicating via email or text message than face-to-face communication. (Or sitting side-by-side looking at a nice environment can take the pressure off conversation and allow them to open up more easily.)
• Encourage your child to focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses. Spend time spotting your child’s strengths and acknowledging when they use them.
• Remind your child that their worth is not based on their achievements or appearance.
• Praise your child for accomplishments and also effort, but also when they might fail to reach the desired results.
• Encourage them to be proud of themselves and to keep trying – explain that everyone makes mistakes and it’s ok to fail but to try again.
• Discuss things you’ve done that might have been scary or tough for you to do, showing your child that you’ve also been through times when you’ve needed confidence.
• Help them look and feel more confident by teaching them how to walk tall and smile. Even if they don’t feel confident, they will feel it and others will think they are confident.
• Closely support your child with tasks they find difficult.
• If you notice a lack of confidence is really affecting your child, suggest they speak to their school counsellor. 

 Some useful links to support ideas outlined in the above article are:

• Steps for improving self-esteem
• Challenging negative thinking
• Working out your strengths

There are also some great resources available on the youth website, ReachOut.com, that you can access to help your child develop confidence for themselves. This is a free resource; you can sign up and access the Resources for Parents section on a variety of topics. 

Aundraea Stevens
Convenor of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee