Happy Schools, Happy Students 

Bringing wellness into schools is a great way to improve test scores, reduce conflicts and increase overall student and staff happiness. By adding these easy activities and changes as recommended by the UNESCO Happy School report, you can create a happy school and have happier students over-all. 

What is a Happy School

Happy schools are the basic idea that we’ve been too focused on drilling fundamentals into student’s heads. And not thinking about the overall health and happiness of students. Especially since the pandemic, we’ve seen student’s wellbeing worsen and that has been diminishing schools. As a result of budget cuts, even in prior decades we’ve seen a reduction in classes that are designed in part to increase a child’s happiness – the arts, physical education or skills based learning like home eco or shop. These classes might not be tested at the end of the year but the skills taught in them are incredibly important. 

How to Create a Happy School

Start by creating a happiness map. Use a piece of paper and draw five circles on it. Then fill in those circles with what happiness means to you. This will allow you to see how happiness can be represented across different races, genders, socioeconomic statuses, etc. Happiness is universal but how its manifested is not. 

Then do the opposite with an Unhappiness Map. This will give you guidance on what to focus on and what to improve at your specific school 

Follow the Guidelines to Happiness

The Happy Schools Framework is made up of 22 criteria under the three broad categories of People, Process and Places. This allows schools to focus on non-cognitive skills, attitude aspects, values and competencies, such as happiness, wellbeing, social and emotional learning, empathy and interdependence. Use your happiness (and unhappiness map) to pick and choose what would work best for your school from this amazing UNESCO report on how to create a happiness school. It really could change our schools and our students for the better. 

Learn more about happiness and kids in this article from the Spafinder archives.