A Galway City primary school has won a national award for their innovations in promoting mental health and wellbeing.
St Patrick’s Boys and Girls Primary School won Best Programme Activity category at the 2022 Mission Possible Awards.
The Mission Possible Awards are run by the Walk in My Shoes mental health campaign, and celebrate projects in primary and secondary schools to raise awareness of mental health and reduce stigma in school and the community.
St Patrick’s won the Programme Activity award for putting in place an action plan with initiatives such as music and other creative activities.
“They ran several initiatives and events from Christmas concerts and gardening initiatives to performing on Galway’s Shop Street live on national television,” the judges said.
“They ran kindness awards and set up a Music Shelter as a place where students can sit and sing songs, even when it’s raining.”
“The school put an emphasis on a wide range of programme activities to improve wellbeing in creative and impactful ways.”
The winning secondary school in the Programme Activity category was Loreto Secondary School in Bray, Co. Wicklow.
Primary and secondary schools also received awards in the Best Standalone Project and Most Creative Idea categories.
Amanda McArdle, WIMS Campaign Manager and competition judge, said that there is a “deep understanding” of mental health in schools across the country.
“The challenges we have all faced over the last two years and the role schools have played in helping children and young people to deal with them has really underlined this.”
“The entries we received to this year’s Mission Possible awards blew me away with the skill, inventiveness and passion of teachers and students show in making mental health and wellbeing a real priority.”
She added that it was a “privilege to see all the incredible hard work being done by teachers and students”, so that people can be more open about mental health.
