1. Changing a MINDset
Using physical activity to positively improve mental health and wellbeing
March 2018

2. Session Objectives
Increased understanding and awareness of the impact of physical activity on mental wellbeing.
Increased understanding and awareness of what is meant by the term ‘Character Education’
Increased understanding and consideration of how our areas of work can contribute to improved outcomes for pupils in the future.

3. Whole School Improvement
What is the ethos behind the teaching of PE in your school?
What are the big issues for schools and school leaders now? What key issues might the future hold?
3. Where can our subject make the biggest
contribution going forward on improving pupil
outcomes?

4. The Big Issues

5. Wellbeing is more than the absence of illness and goes beyond life satisfaction. It is linked with an individual’s physical health, health behaviours and resilience (the ability to cope with adverse circumstances). Public Health England, 2013

6. “Mental health is defined as a state of wellbeing in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”
World Health Organisation

7. The Evidence
1 in 10 children and young people aged suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder - that is around three children in every class
Between 1 in every 12 and 1 in 15 children and young people deliberately self-harm
More than half of all adults with mental health problems were diagnosed in childhood. Less than half were treated appropriately at the time
Nearly 80,000 children and young people suffer from severe depression
The number of young people aged with depression nearly doubled between the 1980s and the 2000s
(Young Minds - Young people’s mental health)

8. Children who spend more time on computers, watching TV and playing video games tend to experience higher levels emotional distress, anxiety and depression.
Physical activity is associated with improved concentration levels, more positive social behaviour, such as being kind to class mates and attempting to resolve disputes and children feeling liked by peers and that they have enough friends.
Physical activity is also associated with lower levels of anxiety and depression with children being happier with their appearance and reporting higher levels of self-esteem, happiness and satisfaction with their lives.
(Public Health England – How Healthy Behaviour supports children’s wellbeing)

9. (Department for Education – Mental health and behaviour in schools)
9.8% of children and young people aged 5 to 16 have a clinically diagnosed mental disorder. Within this group:
5.8% of all children have a conduct disorder (this is about twice as common among boys as girls)
3.7% have emotional disorders,
1.5% hyperkinetic disorders
1.3% have other less common disorders including autistic spectrum disorder, tic disorders, eating disorders and mutism
1.9% of all children (approximately one fifth of those with a clinically diagnosed mental disorder) are diagnosed with more than one of the main categories of mental disorder.
Beyond the 10% discussed above, approximately a further 15% have less severe problems that put them at increased risk of developing mental health problems in the future.
(Department for Education – Mental health and behaviour in schools)

10. Emotional wellbeing is a clear indicator of academic achievement, success and satisfaction in later life.
Evidence shows that mental health and wellbeing programmes in schools, can lead to significant improvements in children’s mental health, and social and emotional skills.
Wellbeing provision in schools can also lead to reductions in classroom misbehaviour and bullying.
(Young minds – Wise Up Report, 2017)

11. The Role of Schools
Over the course of their education, children spend over 7,800 hours at school.

12. Character Nation Report, 2015
Our definition of student success is wrong, and we measure the wrong things.
We are blind to the world outside the classroom.
We act as if employers only care about qualifications.

13. Employability
57% of the 3, 000 companies surveyed said that young people are lacking basic ‘soft’ skills, such as communication and team working, to succeed in the working world.
71% of employers believe schools should be prioritising employability.

14. “Of course, academic achievement matters
“Of course, academic achievement matters.  But alone, it’s not enough for the exciting world we face – in work, or in wider society….Attainment and wider preparation for adult life go hand-in-hand.”
Paul Drechsler, President, CBI
“Schools should teach pupils resilience and how to be “rounded and grounded”
John Cridland, Director-General, CBI

15. In order to help their pupils succeed, schools have a role to play in supporting them to be resilient and mentally healthy.

16. What does a resilient child look like? …

17. Definitions of Resilience
“the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness, the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity” “the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity. 2. ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy” “When faced with a tragedy, natural disaster, health concern, relationship, work, or school problem, resilience is how well a person can adapt to the events in their life.

18. Resilience seems to involve several related elements.
a sense of self-esteem and confidence;
a belief in one’s own self-efficacy and ability to deal with change and adaptation;
a repertoire of social problem solving approaches.”
Definition cited in DFE publication from British Journal of Psychiatry

19. What is Character Education?
Character is a set of personal traits or dispositions that evoke specific emotions, inform motivation and guide conduct.
Character education is an umbrella term for all explicit and implicit educational activities that helps young people develop positive personal traits.
Jubilee Centre, University of Birmingham

20. The Virtues
Jubilee Centre, University of Birmingham

23. Character Education in Schools
Within your schools is your Character Education:
Caught
Taught
Sought
Is the character education that occurs within your school intentional, planned, organised and reflective, or assumed, unconscious, restive and random?

24. A Rationale for Character Education in Schools
Key principles:
Character contributes to human and societal flourishing
Character is the foundation for improved attainment, better behaviour and increased employability
Character results in academic gains for students, such as higher grades
Character empowers students and is liberating
Character demonstrates a readiness to learn from others

25. Children with higher levels of emotional, behavioural, social, and school wellbeing, on average, have higher levels of academic achievement and are more engaged in school, both concurrently and in later years.
Children with better emotional wellbeing make more progress in primary school and are more engaged in secondary school.
(DFE - The Impact of Pupil Behaviour and Wellbeing on Educational Outcomes)

26. Whole school improvement
What is the ethos behind the teaching of PE in your school?
How does/could your ethos support the mental health and well-being of your pupils through the development of character traits.
What are the big issues for schools and school leaders now? What key issues might the future hold?
3. Where can our subject make the biggest
contribution going forward on improving pupil
outcomes?

27. ‘I have never let my schooling interfere with my education’
Mark Twain