Tools to Thrive is a new two-level positive mental well-being programme for Senior Cycle, secondary school students in Fifth and Sixth year (ages 15 to 17+). The programme is drawn from the fields of Positive Psychology, the science of well-being, and Neuroscience to develop positive well-being habits for life. It is designed to be implemented as part of the SPHE curriculum.
Each level has 8 lessons which are designed to be taught consecutively where possible. Each lesson may be taught over a one-hour class period, or maybe be split over 2 lesson periods if desired also.
Research shows that having a high level of well-being is the greatest predictor of happiness and success in life for both adults and young people. (Layard et al., 2014). However, young people face ever-increasing challenges and demands as they grow into adulthood. There is a vital need to equip them with the skills and strategies that will help them to flourish and thrive despite these challenges.
The Tools to Thrive programme aims to introduce adolescents to these evidence-based skills (tools), drawn from the field of Positive Psychology, to develop positive well-being habits for life. Each lesson also indicates the neuroscience behind each tool to give students an understanding of what is happening in the brain as each tool is utilised.
The programme is designed in alignment with the 4 key features of effective teaching and learning in SPHE (NCCA, 2023)
- Awareness
- Dialogue
- Reflection
- Action
The programme aims to support learning in all of the Learning Outcomes of 2 of the 3 strands of the Revised Senior Cycle SPHE curriculum (2024), namely Health and Well-Being and Into Adulthood. The majority of these Learning Outcomes (11 of the 16), are covered within Levels A & B of the programme. The remaining 5 are covered in Tools to Thrive: Level B Follow-On, which comprises of 3 further online lessons.
There is a huge need for mental health resources for schools as so many young people are struggling with their mental health. It is expected that this new programme will play a part in making a significant difference.
Each of the two levels comes in the form of:
- Teacher Resource Book, including access to comprehensive online resources on the Teacher’s Digital Companion Page (password-protected)
- Pupil Reflective Journal, including access to comprehensive online resources on the Pupil’s Digital Companion Page (no password required)
Free Samples of the two Student Reflective Journals are available HERE and you can trial one of the eight Lessons for Free from each of the two levels HERE.