Learnings from the NAB Report on Student Wellbeing
Overview
Recently NAB released a special educational report for 2024 looking specifically at wellbeing and how students feel about their lives. The information from this report is beneficial for us all as a way of understanding students’ perspectives and better enhance our wellbeing practices.
“Wellbeing is not just the absence of disease or illness. It integrates mental and physical health, and both are inextricably related. When students feel well, happy, secure and are thriving socially, they can fully participate in and learn from their daily routines, play, interactions, and experiences at school. Educators acknowledge the crucial role of supporting student wellbeing, despite the added pressures it places on budgets, teachers and support staff. Addressing the diverse mental health issues faced by young Australians today requires a joint effort involving educators, government bodies, students, communities, families and parents alike” – NAB.
The report shows that there has been a positive shift in mental health and wellbeing over the course of the last year, students are coping better and feeling less lonely. Some trends still exist within the LGBTIQ+ community where one in every two students report not coping well with mental health concerns. And more generally, girls report lower wellbeing than boys.
Areas of Consideration
Students remark that schools could foster more positive wellbeing by:
- Teachers being calm and caring.
- Applying more flexible rules for uniform policy and appearance.
- Providing academic feedback on progress, rather than result.
- Providing different/flexible school timetables.
Main concerns expressed by our young people:
- School work pressure – this figure remains the biggest worry for young people and, largely, this is reported as self-pressure.
- Body image – 44% of young people are concerned about this.
Inadequate sleep – on average under 7 hours a night. Noting that kids are spending roughly 5.5 hours a day on social media. - Social media - while this can be negative for relationships and in tough times, students report that it can be quite beneficial too, as a support and coping mechanism.
- Mental health/anxieties.
- Family finances - 35% of young people concerned about this, and this has risen significantly since 2023.
- Cost of living.
- Loneliness.
- Acceptance – not being accepted for who they are.
- Climate change.
Further Details
Our young people are reported to have a high increase in concerns around the financial pressure and finances and security in the family setting. This matches my experience in conversations with young people around careers. Young people are worried more than they ever have been about the cost of living, this is not necessarily a negative thing, as it’s important that they are aware of financial reality, but this concern could be limiting them in regard to decisions and choices.
Loneliness – which is a feeling of disconnection even when not alone or surrounded by family and friends – is still a prevalent wellbeing issue in this generation. Loneliness can significantly impact wellbeing, cause high rates of anxiety, poor sleep, low motivation and social withdrawal. Loneliness in general has improved in 2024, but one in eight students still feel extremely lonely.
Students in Years 7 – 9 are not feeling as great as they have in the past, with 17% of this age group reporting to have low mental health. In positive news, most students report to feeling more positive in their emotional and mental wellbeing from a year ago. And even more positively, for us specifically, students in co-education reported the highest levels of wellbeing.
Pressure to do well at school has been shown to increase stress and anxiety in students. The vast majority of students report their biggest concern as schoolwork stress, although the pressure from this is mostly from themselves. Additionally, one in two students report that this pressure also can come from family.
The NAB report included a really enlightening section on wellbeing programs. While schools are doing more than ever before and for a higher volume of young people, our wellbeing programs alone are not effective. One in two students report that the wellbeing programs do not help much at all.
Wellbeing at St Peters Springfield
At St Peters Springfield, our wellbeing program is only one part of our wellbeing framework, embedding wellbeing holistically into all we do remains a top priority. Wellbeing is not isolated to Care, Dignity and Respect (CDR) or Pastoral Care (PC) lessons, it is evident in Mathematics, Assembly, Chapel, and in conversation, it’s the way we do things. The evidence in the NAB Report only serves to highlight the importance of wellbeing forming part of our core business as a school.
In our local context, we have implemented some of the following initiatives in order to embed and improve wellbeing as part of what we do:
- A focus on relationships.
- The implementation of the Resilience Project and the GEM model of: Growth, Empathy and Mindfulness.
- The linking of Student Diaries to the Resilience Project for their ongoing use and reference during CDR and PC lessons.
- The formation of a Student Wellbeing Committee and the introduction of Wellbeing Leaders in the Student Leadership model, who organise and run initiatives, for example: R U OK Day.
Reminder from Mrs Johnson
Academic results do not make a person successful or unsuccessful, they are just one tool of measurement. We love our students to set goals for themselves and excel and use their God-given potential, but we do not want this ambition to get in the way of self-care, self-worth or self-love. You are not defined by an academic result; you are a person. School is here to guide you and develop you to be your best self. Make your wellbeing an equal priority – then the school success will come.
Sarah Johnson
Careers and Guidance Counsellor
