One Good School

Why Jigsaw’s One Good School™?

In Jigsaw, we believe that schools play a vital role in promoting and supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people and all those within the school community. Schools can provide safe and supportive environments for building life skills, resilience and a strong sense of connectedness. Fostering healthy relationships among peers, school staff and parents is critical to a young person’s overall experience of school and their social, emotional and cognitive development.

National policy

In the past ten years or more, there has been a growing level of attention on the importance of promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing in schools. The government has published a number of key national policy documents which identify schools as critical settings for contributing to student health and wellbeing.

In developing Jigsaw’s One Good School™, our new approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing in post primary schools, we consulted widely and again and again, we heard that there is an urgent need for a more structured, systematic and programmatic approach at a local level; an approach that supports all areas of the school setting and creates capacity to be reflective and responsive to the needs of the school and the individuals who are part of the school community.

What does Jigsaw’s One Good School™ offer my school?

• A broad range of activities for the whole school community
  This initiative provides a broad range of evidence-informed activities for all those within the whole school community, including school leadership teams, teachers, parents, and students. The initiative will be delivered through interactive workshops, webinars, online tools and resources, peer education programmes and more.

• Aligned to national policies and supports the School Self-Evaluation process (SSE)
  Implementation of Jigsaw’s One Good School™ initiative supports schools in meeting the expectations of a multi-component and whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing which have been outlined in national policies. The evaluation process involved as part of the initiative can usefully contribute to the School Self-Evaluation process (SSE). This is particularly valuable in view of the target which has been set by the Department of Education and Skills that all schools will have ‘an embedded self-evaluation wellbeing promotion process by 2023.’

• Recognition of your school’s participation
  One Good School™ offers three levels of award at the end of a two-year cycle to acknowledge the efforts and commitments that all members of the school community have demonstrated towards promoting and supporting youth mental health and wellbeing.

How does my school participate in Jigsaw’s One Good School™?

Only schools within the catchment area of a Jigsaw service will be eligible to participate in Jigsaw’s One Good School™ initiative for 2022/2023 and places will be limited.

If your school is interested in finding out more about the 2022/2023 initiative, please contact your local Jigsaw service.

If you are interested in finding out more about the initiative but your school is currently not within the catchment area of a Jigsaw service, please contact Jigsaw’s national office.

Proudly sponsored by Lidl

Over three years, Lidl pledged to raise €1 million for Jigsaw to be invested in initiatives like Jigsaw’s One Good School™. Not only are Lidl aiming to raise funds to help Jigsaw expand our reach, but they are also aiming to raise awareness of youth mental health across Ireland and encourage all their customers and colleagues to be One Good Adult® to a young person in their lives by being there to listen, support and advise when times are tough.

Without the commitment of strategic partners like Lidl, we cannot deliver the vital supports that our young people and those around them. We are hugely indebted to Lidl for their commitment to Jigsaw and our One Good School™ initiative.