08 May 2019
Strong Minds
Kent Road PS will be implementing a wellbeing program called ‘Strong Minds’. It is a whole school approach to wellbeing for all children from K-6, staff and parents.
Strong Minds is based on developing twenty- four scientifically validated character strengths. Everyone has these strengths in varying degrees, and they change and develop over time. Some of our strengths are more prominent, and these are referred to as our ‘signature strengths’. Research into character indicates that when we know and apply our top five signature strengths our wellbeing improves. Signature strengths have also been found to be positively associated with academic performance, motivation and effort (Lounsbury, Fisher, Levy, & Welsh, 2009).
The Strong Minds team will conduct staff and parent training this term. The student lessons will be delivered by the classroom teacher as part of the Health & Physical Education curriculum.
Strong Minds is an initiative to build resilience.
If you are interested, you can find out your top strengths by completing the free VIA Survey at: https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register. This website also provides an explanation of each strength and suggestions for putting these strengths into practice.
We encourage you to discuss these character strengths with your child and look for examples of when they put their own unique strengths into practice. The students will also be very interested to know what your signature strengths are. These types of discussions can help to build relationships, self-esteem, and promote strengths based language within our school community.
You might also like to challenge yourself and your family to use a strength in a new way or focus on a different strength each week.
Parents are invited to attend the Parent Information Session on
Monday 20th May at 7-8pm in the assembly hall.