As part of Wakatipu High School’s schoolwide wellbeing programme, this page has been established to provide information and support for students, staff and parents. It is a work in progress and we will continue to add links and resources.

The Māori whakataukī “mā pango, mā whero ka oti te mahi”, by black and red together the work is done, guides our work in regards to wellbeing and reminds us that students, staff and whānau working together will help us achieve our goals for this kaupapa.

Our journey began after attending the inaugural Positive Education Conference in 2017. We then partnered with the best in the business - the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience (NZIWR), for direction, guidance and support as we began the journey of wellbeing at WHS. We also closely follow the work of other schools at the forefront of wellbeing and positive education in Aotearoa which provides us with a roadmap for success.

What is our wellbeing kaupapa?

We’ve followed NZIWR’s ‘learn it, live it, teach it, embed it’ mantra as a process to implement and embed a whole-school approach to positive mental health and wellbeing at WHS. This meant that our mahi began with staff in 2018 and then we began to roll it out to students in the second half of 2020.

It is an ongoing kaupapa and there is always mahi to be done. Wakatipu High School aims to keep student wellbeing at the forefront of what we do, believing that students cannot learn or achieve their potential without a strong sense of wellbeing. While there are multiple ways to conceptualise and measure wellbeing, we’ve adopted Felicia Huppert’s ‘feeling good and functioning well’ as a succinct and useful definition of wellbeing. It is useful to note that this definition doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re happy all the time and doesn’t mean that we won’t experience tough times.

We focus on the concept of positive education by teaching skills that assist staff and students to build up their kete of resources in order to strengthen their relationships, build positive emotions, adopt a strengths-based approach, enhance personal resilience, promote a growth mind-set and encourage a healthy lifestyle. 

In support of this, we partnered with the Wellbeing Student Council to develop our own WHS model of wellbeing which we refer to with staff and students. Our students and staff sourced inspiration for this model from the Mental Health Foundation’s ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’, Sir Mason Durie’s ‘Te Whare Tapa Whā’ model, and our beautiful whenua here in Tāhuna, Queenstown.

Why the focus on wellbeing?

Our rangatahi face many challenges growing up today, and it’s important to acknowledge that New Zealand statistics for mental health, particularly for our teenagers, is concerning. Increasing awareness of mental health and pressures affecting young people and educators across New Zealand has resulted in interest in how hauora for students, staff and whānau can be promoted in schools. Simultaneously new findings from wellbeing and resilience research indicate that resilience can be learned and taught, and programmes that effectively promote and develop wellbeing have a raft of benefits for mental and physical health as well as academic achievement. Our goal is to enhance students’ sense of wellbeing so that they flourish at and beyond Wakatipu High School. We’re also aware that supporting the wellbeing of staff has a positive impact not only for them but for our students as well.

We expect our wellbeing programme will:

  • teach staff and students to see wellbeing – their own and others’ – and to learn how to build and enhance it.
  • complement our pastoral care programme and support of individuals.
  • equip our students to:        

        -   have the learning, skills and tools to live and model healthy approaches to life.       

        -   be strong academically and personally.        

        -   be their best and impact others for good.

Some of the successes so far:
  • Annual promotion of events such as Mental Health Awareness Week, Gumboot Friday, Mullet March, and Pink Shirt Day.
  • Development of a Wellbeing Student Council and a Wellbeing Lead Prefect
  • Creation of Wakatipu High School’s very own Wellbeing Model
  • Regular as well as annual surveys for staff and students in regards to their wellbeing and how we can support them
  • Formation of a Staff Wellbeing Team
  • A kete of resources for our kaiārahi (mentors) and teachers to use with our students during Ako time and their regular classes
  • A pedagogical focus on identifying and utilising strengths, connection, mindfulness and ‘brain breaks’ in the classroom. Encouragement of staff to implement brain breaks and connection activities within our longer 90 minute periods.
  • Workshops and information sessions for students throughout the year on ‘hot topics’ related to wellbeing, as well as student Mental Health First Aid courses.
  • The development and implementation of personal wellbeing plans so that students and staff can be given the understanding and tools to assess their wellbeing and identify strategies to maintain and improve it when needed.
Resources

Here’s some rauemi, resources you can use that we’ve found helpful:

We are proud to be part of developing wellbeing education in Aotearoa, New Zealand. With the implementation of our schoolwide Wellbeing Programme across our school we believe we can move student wellbeing to a new level and equip our rangatahi with the skills and strength to confront and conquer the many challenges they will face in their futures.

To find out more about our Wellbeing Programme at Wakatipu High School or if you have any questions or potential opportunities to support our journey please contact Sarah Hill.