ABSTRACT
Learning communities that are built on healthy relational cultures are foundational to both student and staff wellbeing. Protective factors for positive mental health include a positive school climate that enhances belonging and connectedness. This chapter focuses on why children’s mental health is so important and how our own autobiographical insights can enhance our approach to supporting children’s wellbeing. We examine the idea of language development as an indicator for wellbeing and how language play is a potentially powerful aspect of this. The importance of choice of lesson content is presented and how social and emotional learning are closely bound up with the teaching and learning of language, including a focus on limiting language performance anxiety.
