Primary School Principals Are Laughing!
- Published: 17 January 2011
This morning (Monday 17th January), the email below was sent to all IPPN school Principals. A recent survey revealed that Principals are becoming more concerned about rising levels of mental health issues and depression in young school children. In response, IPPN has decided to encourage primary schools to engage in some ‘Positivity’ initiatives as a small gesture towards the well being of children.
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Email to Principals
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, a number of Principals posted on Networking@ippn.ie that their schools had engaged in a ‘Positivity Week/Day’. The purpose of this focus on positivity, was to provide some balance to the pervasive news of economic gloom, bad weather and media coverage of international disasters, gang violence etc. The reaction within their school communities was amazing, and all of them reported that they found the exercise to be very rewarding and enriching. In particular, it was noted that the exercise had a very positive impact on staff and student morale and wellbeing.
As a result of this very positive feedback, not only from schools, but also from the general public at large, we are inviting you and your colleagues to consider promoting a ‘Positivity Week/Day’ in your own school sometime during the next few weeks. Of course, this initiative is entirely optional for each school and is by no means prescriptive. The basic idea is to get people to laugh a little more and generally be nice to one another. A menu of projects to undertake, should you decide to ‘go positive’ include:
• Complement and encourage each other - young and old
• Paint a ‘Smile’ on your face – be brave, wear it to and from work
• School assembly - name, identify and sing happy birthday to children and staff whose birthday is on that day
• Display photos of staff when they were children in primary school – Guess Who
• ‘Stand-up’ joke telling sessions in class or assembly
• ‘Homework–off’ vouchers for anyone ‘caught’ being positive by the Principal
• Chess and draughts knock-out ‘championship’ in senior classes
• Co-operative learning – use of team games to engage children to learn while having ‘fun’
• Fancy dress day for teachers and children
• Teddy Bears Picnic
Each school is invited to devise its own ‘Positivity’ initiatives with a view to promoting good humour and overall wellbeing. If you would like to share your experiences of ‘Positivity’ initiatives, please send them to networking@ippn.ie. It’s important that we as Principals can demonstrate to children that behind the role are human beings that can laugh as good as the rest.
Is sinne le meas
Seán Cottrell and Pat Goff
