Mental Health and Well-Being

TLDSB is committed to recognizing and supporting the needs of the whole child – which includes supporting and promoting well-being. The information found on this page aims to support a deeper understanding about mental health challenges, promote wellness, and connect students and parents/guardians to the appropriate support if/when they need it.

Student well-being is grounded in the philosophy that all students can learn and flourish. When our classrooms and schools build supportive communities, provide appropriate resources, and explicitly teach skills and strategies for well-being, our students thrive and are well.

We have a Mental Health Strategy that sets out our approach at TLDSB; it focuses on promoting positive health and well-being, and providing a tiered approach to supporting students.

Mental Health 101

• Mental health, like physical health, is a key component of what makes us well. We can think of mental health like we think of physical health, but where physical health refers to our bodies, mental health refers to our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.
• We can take care of our mental health, just like we take care of our physical health. We can do this by eating well, getting a good night’s sleep, being active, connecting with others and taking time to relax, have fun, and do some things that make us feel happy every day.
• Our mental health lies on a spectrum and how we’re feeling can fluctuate up and down as we live our lives.
• It is not unusual to feel worried, angry, or sad. Every emotion serves an important role in keeping us healthy. Understanding and using the energy emotions create to take positive actions is the key.
• There are people who work in schools, and in our community, who are trained to help us to find ways to get through this so we can feel better.
• Read more about mental health on the Resources page on the Jack.org website.
• Watch the What is mental health video by JigsawTMH.
• What good mental health looks like:
  • Good mental health might look different from one person to another. But there are six common factors of well-being that we see across different descriptions and definitions from across Canada and around the world. Good mental health includes:
    – A sense of purpose
    – Strong relationships
    – Feeling connected to others
    – Having a good sense of self
    – Coping with stress
    – Enjoying life