Tiverton Campus
Year 5 - 8
For the past few years, the Tiverton Wellbeing team has been working with Smiling Mind in our GROW and Religion classes to develop mindfulness practices in Years 5 to 8. Recently, Smiling Mind published their 2021 report, “State of Mind”, that surveyed a range of Australians about their physical and mental health. These were some of their findings:
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- 78% of Australian’s surveyed experienced poor mental health over the past year
- 89% of participants consider mental health as important as physical health
- ½ of the mental health conditions we experience at some point in our lives will have started by age 14
- 1 in 7 Australian Primary students and 1 in 5 Secondary students suffer from a mental illness every year
- Currently 62% of participants are experiencing stress and 57% anxiety as a result of lockdowns and COVID-19
As a result, the Tiverton Wellbeing team have publicised the mental health month calendar for October on the Tiverton news page for all Year 5 - 8 students to complete daily. These simple but effective activities will hopefully reduce anxiety and stress, and allow students to become more centered, calm and in control over the coming weeks before coming back into school. This is a key part of our GROW program in Term 4 this year.
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Smiling Mind also encourage students to prioritise sleep, exercise, a healthy diet, ongoing personal relationships, hobbies and interests and meditation as a way to assist in this challenging time as well.
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Reference: Dib, J., Comer, J., Wotten, A. & Buhagiar, K. (2021) State of Mind, Smiling Mind: Melbourne
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Martin Gibbs
Director of Students (Middle Years)
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