Mayo Mental Health Association launches Primary School programme

Mayo Mental Health Association is very pleased to welcome Rosemary Duffy, Primary Schools’ Health Promotion Officer, to their staff. Rosemary is a qualified primary school teacher with 12 years of teaching experience. Following the completion of a Master’s Degree in Applied Positive Psychology in 2022 and seeing the mental health needs presenting in her own school, Rosemary’s interest in wellbeing and positive mental health in children took hold.

Rosemary joined the staff of Mayo Mental Health Association in October 2024. As part of her role, she conducted interviews with local principals and teaching staff in relation to the wellbeing needs in primary schools.

New resources for schools and parents

In response to feedback from school principals highlighting the need for greater support around bullying, cyber-safety, and mental health information for parents, Rosemary from Mayo Mental Health Association (MHA) conducted research into what resources were already available.

“I was delighted to discover that there are in fact many excellent mental health and wellbeing resources, often freely available online,” Rosemary shared. “I myself was not aware of these resources when I worked as a teacher, and I realised that many other teachers are probably not either.”

The resources include mindfulness videos, printable wellness worksheets, training courses for teachers, and many more.

To make these resources more accessible, Rosemary compiled them into two user-friendly e-documents for teaching staff and one for parents. Based on feedback from local schools, the resources focused on: Mental health and wellbeing; Anti-bullying and cyber-safety; Parent supports.

These new documents are designed to complement the work already carried out by Mayo MHA across secondary schools, including: The evidence-based MindOut Programme; The Breathe Talk; The Fractured Talk

Rosemary is currently working with six pilot schools, supporting them in their school self-evaluation of wellbeing (SSE) and providing information on relevant training and resources. She is also working to develop student-friendly mental health workshops. The pilot programme is already underway, and support has been much welcomed by school staff.

Mayo Mental Health Association would like to thank the six pilot schools for their engagement in this programme. “Come September, we hope to be in a position to open expressions of interest and work with additional schools,” Rosemary noted.

The official launch of the new e-resources for primary school teachers and parents took place last week at the Mayo MHA office in Castlebar. All documents are free to download from the Mayo Mental Health Association website: https://mayomha.ie/online-resources/. Mayo Mental Health Association welcomes feedback on the e-resources. Please send your thoughts or suggestions to: rosemary@mayomha.ie

PHOTO CAPTION: Mayo Mental Health Association Launches Primary School Programme with new e-resources for primary school teachers and parents at the Mayo MHA office in Castlebar. Pictured front row L/R, Niall Dunne (Manager, Mayo Mental Health Association), Clodagh Kavanagh (Student Health Promotion officer, Mayo Mental Health). Rosemary Duffy, Primary Schools’ Health Promotion Officer, Leona Nestor (HSCL Scoil Íosa NS, Ballina) and Elaine Uí Ghuidhir (Leas PO, SN Cholmcille, Ceathrú Thaidhg). Middle Row L/R, Nessa Maloney (Dept Principal of Castlebar NS), John Melivin (Chairperson of Mayo Mental Health Association), Alma Egan (Principal of Balla NS) and Johanne Gibbons (Resourse Officer Mayo Mental Health). Back Row L/R Lianne McManamon (Mayo Mental Health Association Promotion lead), Jarlath Munnelly (Mayo CYPSC - Children & Young People's Service Committee) and Peadar Gardiner (Project Manager, Mindspace Mayo), Regina Corrigan (Principal Park National School). Pic: Michael McLaughlin