Wellbeing support for Leaving Certificate students, parents and school staff

There are positive steps that you can take to support your wellbeing during this time, it will help to:

Physical exercise can help reduce the effects of stress by producing mood-boosting hormones. Even a little bit of activity can make a difference. The government campaign’s Let’s Get Set has lots of great suggestions on physical activity.

Make an effort to eat healthily, eat regular meals and drink lots of water. See Let’s Get Set for healthy eating.

Staying connected with others is really important at this time. Choose to spend time with people who will help you stay calm and help you to keep things in perspective. Sharing thoughts or worries with others really does help. If you are feeling upset, overwhelmed or stressed talk ask for support from someone you trust, like family or friends. The Guidance Counsellor at your school is also available to help. There are also support services for young people that provide advice and support via text, email and online

see Mental Health and Wellbeing Information Leaflet .

Think about what it is that helps you to relax. This will be different for everybody but it is important to include whatever it is into each day. It might involve being active or it might involve winding down. Think about things that make you feel good, then make it happen – like listening to music, going for walks, doing some meditation, playing a sport, writing, drawing, cooking or watching a favourite or funny movie. Remember laughter is good medicine! Other ideas on how to relax can be found in NEPS Relaxation Techniques and Podcast

Sleep is good for our health and wellbeing so it’s important to get plenty of sleep. Leaving your phone, laptop and tablet outside the bedroom will help you to get a better night’s sleep. You can find more tips on getting a good night’s sleep at Sleep problems – tips and self-help – hse.ie

Sometimes pressure to do well in the exams comes from outside, from parents, teachers, peers. But a lot of the time it comes from within. Be kind to yourself. Remind yourself that you did your best and that is always good enough. If you are being hard on yourself ask yourself “what would a good friend say to me?”

Remind yourself and others

Always remember this is just one time in your whole lifetime and although the Leaving Certificate is important, there are many roads now to get to your desired destination.

Try to keep things in perspective and don’t be too hard on yourself. When under pressure, it is easy to slip into negative or self-critical thinking. We might say unkind things to ourselves we wouldn’t say to a friend or loved one such as “I’ll never get it right” or “I’m not good enough”. Our thoughts can affect our feelings and our behaviours in a positive or negative way. Notice and challenge any negative thoughts and replace them with helpful thoughts such as, “I’m just feeling a bit anxious, and that is normal; I can handle it”.

Controlled breathing is a very effective way to calm the mind and body. If you feel anxious pause and breathe slowly. This will help you to feel more in control. There are many different breathing exercises you can try, such as this one: Breathe in through your nose for four seconds. Hold for four seconds. Breathe out through your mouth for eight seconds. Take three of these slow breaths. By doing such exercises throughout the day, you will help calm your nervous system and you will be able to think more clearly as a result.

Notice your feelings. Over the next while you may have lots of different feelings. You may feel happy, excited, stressed, anxious, sad, afraid, fed up, angry, frustrated or even numb. You may feel nothing at all, that’s ok too. If your feelings and reactions seem different from those of your friends, that’s ok. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to feel. The following information will also help:

• Managing your thoughts and feelings

• Dealing with Anxiety

• Coping with Fear

• Managing Panic

• NEPS Resources

Our sense of wellbeing can also be improved by taking time to think about some of the following:

• What positive/healthy activities/experiences can I plan to do today (e.g. reading, music, food, games, exercise, meditation, learning etc.)

• What can I be grateful for today? (I am grateful for …. list 3 things)

• What small act of kindness can I do for someone else today?

• How can I help myself to take a moment of calm?

What goals can I set for today?

• What do I enjoy and what makes me laugh?

• How can I use one or more of my strengths today?

• Who can I connect with today (by phone, online, face to face)?

• In what way can I make a small positive difference to someone else?

• How can I show interest in another person or their work/hobbies?

• What goals no matter how small can I achieve today?

• What challenge can I take on today?

It is really important to talk to your family and friends or the Guidance Counsellor or a member of staff at your school if you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed. There are also a number of supports for young people outside of school. The support offered by the agencies at the end of this page are for students who are feeling worried or anxious about various issues.

This is a challenging time for you as a parent/carer. It is important to be aware of your own thoughts, feelings, and reactions, as these may affect your young person. How you cope and behave in this situation will influence how they cope and behave. They will pick up on both your verbals and non-verbals.

During this period your support for your young person is invaluable. It can be a time of stress and worry for you also and you have to carefully balance the boundaries between you both, for example when to get involved and offer advice or guidance and when to stay back. If you get the balance wrong, don’t give up – give them some space and try again when things settle.

It is important for you to dedicate some time to look after yourself in order to be able to support your young person. When you take time to support yourself you will be in a stronger position to support those around you. The Department of Health Let’s Get Set has useful information for adults. Create some time in your day for self-care, like watching a favourite TV show, practising some relaxation techniques or exercising.

While many Leaving Certificate students will cope well at this time, some may be upset or anxious. Each young person will have their own way of coping. As a parent there are a number of things that you can do to support your young person’s wellbeing including the following:

Encourage your young person to keep active. Physical exercise can help reduce the effects of worry and stress by producing mood-boosting hormones. Even a little bit of activity can make a difference. The government campaign’s Let’s Get Set has lots of great suggestions on physical activity

Encourage your young person to eat healthily, to have regular mealtimes (joining family meals will also keep them connected) and drink lots of water. See Let’s Get Set for suggestions to encourage them in healthy eating.

Encourage them to talk to you, other family members and their friends if they are feeling upset, worried or anxious. Remind them that sharing their thoughts or worries with others really does help. Be available if they want to spend time with you. Just being around the house more may be enough. Remember there are also support services for young people that provide advice and support via text, email and online, see Mental Health and Wellbeing Information Leaflet

Encourage and remind them to think about what it is that helps them to relax. Remind them about things that you know they usually enjoy and makes them feel good, then help them or to make it happen. This can be simple things like listening to music, going for walks, doing some meditation, playing a sport, writing, drawing, cooking or watching a favourite or funny movie. Laughter is always a good medicine! Other ideas on how to relax can be found in NEPS Relaxation Techniques and Podcast

Sleep is good for our health and wellbeing so it’s important that they get plenty of sleep. If they are struggling to sleep suggesting that they leave their phone, laptop and tablet outside the bedroom might help. You can find more tips on getting a good night’s sleep at Sleep problems – tips and self-help – Hse.ie

Encourage your young person to be kind to themselves. Remind them that they did their best and that is always good enough. Remind them that this is just one time in their whole lifetime and although the Leaving Certificate is important, there are many roads now to get to their desired destination.

Encourage them to keep things in perspective and not to be too hard on themselves. Notice and challenge any negative statements that they make and encourage them to replace them with helpful and positive statements

Controlled breathing is a very effective way to calm the mind and body. There are many different breathing exercises, such as this one: Breathe in through your nose for four seconds. Hold for four seconds. Breathe out through your mouth for eight seconds. Take three of these slow breaths. By encouraging them to do such exercises throughout the day, you will help them to calm their nervous system.

Over the next while your young person may have lots of different feelings. They may feel happy, excited, stressed, anxious, sad, afraid, fed up, angry, frustrated or even numb. They may feel nothing at all, that’s ok too. If their feelings and reactions seem different from their friends, that’s ok too. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to feel. Listen to your young person and their concerns and reassure them that lots of students feel this way.

• Keeping in contact with other parents to talk and share experiences will be a valuable support to you at this time.

The following resources and supports aim to help you in supporting your young person at this time. Included is information for you if you are feeling an increase in your stress levels and anxiety.

• NEPS Relaxation techniques and Podcast

A Guide for Parents and Guardians on Supporting Leaving Certificate Students

Relaxation Techniques

NEPS

How to Calm and Support your Child: Advice for Parents and Guardians

Primary

Schools have a pivotal role in supporting the wellbeing of Leaving Certificate students.

You may find the information included in the following documents useful if supporting distressed students, The document Supporting the Wellbeing of Leaving Certificate Students: Guidance for Post-Primary Schools & Student Support Teams below, details the Listen, Protect, Connect, Model & Teach approach which you may find useful at this time.

NEPS has developed a range of on-line wellbeing resources and supports for Leaving Certificate students, their parents/guardians and school staff. NEPS continues to liaise with the Department of Health and the HSE to plan effective responses to Leaving Certificate students’ needs and a list of their supports can be found here Mental Health and Wellbeing Information Leaflet

Normalising Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviours: A Guide for School Staff

Post Primary

Managing Stress and Anxiety: A Guide for School Staff

Panic Attacks: A Guide for School Staff

Post Primary

Self-Regulation for Pupils: A guide for school staff

Post primary

• Link to government campaign Let’s Get Set

• Link to information for Guidance Counsellors is available here .

• Information on teacher wellbeing and self-care here

There are lots of supports for young people outside of school. The support offered by the agencies listed below, and at this link Mental Health and Wellbeing Information Leaflet are for students who are feeling worried or anxious about various issues.

They include:

• Ireland’s 24-hour national listening service for young people up to the age of 18

• freephone 1800 666 666 (any time, day or night)

• chat online at [external-link www.childline.ie | www.childline.ie ](from 10am to 4pm every day)

• There are a number of services providing information and support to members of the LGBTI+ community. Visit LGBTI+ Supports

• BeLonG To provide support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI+) young people in Ireland.

• visit www.belongto.org for more information

The Jigsaw Support Line is available for free mental health support and advice to young people aged 12 to 25 years old, and parents or concerned adults in Ireland.

• Aged between 12 and 25 and need mental health support

• A parent / guardian / concerned adult looking for mental health support or advice for a young person

• Contact your local Jigsaw by dropping them an email, or giving them a call. See if there is a Jigsaw near you

• At the moment, Jigsaw services are offering face-to-face support, as well as sessions by video link and phone. Read about how to  make the most of these types of supports.

• visit www.jigsaw.ie or email help@jigsaw.ie

Barnardos provides many services directly to children within the school setting. These school based services are focused on improving the social and emotional development of the child and increasing academic confidence and achievement.

Visit www.barnardos.ie email info@barnardos.ie or

phone 01 453 0355

Barnardos also provide a children’s bereavement helpline service, for members of the public seeking information and support in relation to bereavement. Telephone 01 473 2110 from 10am to 12pm, Monday to Thursday.

• SpunOut.ie provides a wide range of articles and information for young people, on many different topics, including mental health.

• Free-text SPUNOUT to 50808 to chat anonymously to a trained volunteer 24/7

• visit www.spunout.ie for more information

• Pieta provides free therapy to those engaging in self-harm, with suicidal ideation, or bereaved by suicide.

• visit pieta.ie/ for more information

• call free on 1800 247 247

• text help to 51444

The YourMentalHealth website provides information and signposting on all mental health supports and services that are available nationally and locally provided by the HSE and its funded partners. You can also call the freephone YourMentalHealth Information Line to find supports and services any time, day or night: 1800 111 888.

www.mymind.org provides access to counselling and psychotherapy, face to face and online

• Free online counselling is available for anyone (18+)

• Call (+353) 818 500 800 (from Ireland); (+353) 1 223 8651 (from outside Ireland); (+44) 20 33 22 44 99 (UK and NI)

• Email hq@mymind.org

• Visit www.mymind.org for more information

For students who have complex mental health needs, access to help continues to be through your GP or health centre or hospital emergency services as detailed below:

• A GP can offer support for anyone in crisis. If possible, ask someone to come along with you.

• GP or health centre GP or health centre

• Out of hours GP services Out of hours GP services

• Go to or call the emergency department of your local general hospital

• You can contact emergency services on 999 or 112.

• The Samaritans telephone service is available 24 hours a day.

• For confidential, non-judgmental support

• freephone 116 123

• email jo@samaritans.ie

• visit Samaritans Ireland for details of the nearest branch

• A mental-health messaging support service is now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It provides in-the-moment anonymous support when you need it most.

• This service aims to connect you with a trained volunteer in less than five minutes. They will listen to you and help you think more clearly, enabling you to know that you can take the next step to feeling better.

Wellbeing policy statement and framework for practice