Yesterday Dr Iain Findlay officially opened our Wellbeing Centre, right at the heart of Senior School, as part of a suite of improvements to enhance our response to physical and mental health. Dr Iain Findlay is a Consultant Physician and Cardiologist, MBChB, FRCP, former Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and Deputy Lieutenant of Renfrewshire. His children were educated at St Columba’s.
Our new Wellbeing Centre is a place where pupils who are injured or unwell can go to receive first aid in a welcoming and comfortable environment but is also a space for those who just need a quiet place to reflect or even calm down. Our Listening Room, which is opposite the main medical facility, is designed for this purpose, as well as for more formal counselling. Recently the media has been full of quite frightening statistics relating to mental health, including a recent story on the BBC website which stated that 1 in 4 school girls have mental health problems. Statistics amongst boys may be less startling – but this is more than likely because boys simply don’t talk about their problems. Our Wellbeing Centre is therefore designed to place mental wellbeing on an equal footing with physical wellbeing.
Our curriculum, both academic and co-curricular, is designed to promote wellbeing, confidence and resilience. A significant contribution to this is made through the PSE curriculum, through which we aim to prepare pupils for the challenges of adult life and to equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to support healthy choices. We aim to give an understanding of how to maintain physical and mental health, how to recognise the signs that additional help may be needed and to signpost support. It is a great strength of St Columba’s that these lessons are delivered by our highly trained Heads of House who know the pupils extremely well and can tailor topics to meet the specific needs of a class or a year group at a given time.
Caring for each individual is at the heart of all that we do and is embodied in one of our Values: Compassion. As part of our focus on anti-bullying this year we are working with pupils to try to improve compassion and reduce bystander bullying. Led by our Head of Guidance, Mr Tait, a group of 11 Senior VI Mentors in Violence Prevention have been leading PSE lessons with SI and recently with Junior 6, to empower them to speak out against cruel or mean behaviour. Through educating our young people we hope to create an ethos in which diversity is celebrated and prejudice and discrimination are challenged, thus building a happy, safe environment in which each individual feels valued and supported.
At the opening Dr Findlay said, “It gives me great pleasure to formally open the Wellbeing Centre at St Columba’s School. We know that a school environment has a profound impact on a child’s development and emotional health. Mental health isn’t extra-curricular, we all have it in one form or another. This is why the Wellbeing Centre initiative is so important as it embodies St Columba’s commitment to the health and wellbeing of its pupils and indeed its staff.”
We were delighted to welcome parents, staff and friends of the School to our opening last night, receiving some wonderful feedback from current parents:
“It’s fabulous to see this at the centre of the school so that it forms part of school life. For the Listening Room to have equal importance to the sick room is a good message to send to the pupils.” Mrs Skinner
“This is a fantastic idea and I think it is very important as children go through life. At exam time they may get anxious or may have suffered a bereavement or family life is just not going too well, and it’s important that they have this centre for someone to talk to and somewhere to relax.” Mrs Leitch
“It’s wonderful to see the original school building being revitalised in this way, finding key uses for the spaces freed up by the Girdwood building. The Wellbeing Centre and Listening Room are vital additions to the school and will contribute greatly to the health of the pupils for years to come. Knowing that there’s somewhere they can go when they’re off-colour or need to find a sympathetic ear will be so important for them." Mrs Muir
We thank everyone who has supported this project either via the Annual Fund or with their time.
