World Mental Health Day

On Monday, it was World Mental Health Day. We started the day appreciating everyone's odd socks and hearing from the KS2 children who helped us understand what mental health is, why it's so important and which strategies we can use to help balance it. Class 4 informed us that one of the '10 a day' strategies to help balance mental health is 'be active in body and mind'. 

Therefore, this week we have relaunched the Daily Mile. Each breaktime, the children are encouraged to walk, run, skip or creatively move around 5 laps of school to help recharge their batteries and refresh their minds. They are encouraged to do so whilst catching up with their friends and keeping track of their progress. 

To celebrate a new school link we have with a school in Berlin, we are attempting to run the 30-mile length of the Berlin Wall. Along the way we can track our progress on the Conqueror Challenge app, we will be sent postcards at various milestones along the way and we will receive a very fancy medal upon completing the challenge. 

Alongside this challenge, we also spent some time discussing mental health and wellbeing in our classes. In KS2, we went on a wellbeing walk in the afternoon. Along the walk of the school premises, we dropped children off to have some reflection time in peaceful spots.

The children were encouraged to reflect on their emotions, the things they enjoy and the things they can do to manage their mental health. Some children decided to draw pictures, write poems or tell stories whereas some children opted to just sit peacefully and have some thinking time. 

Mr Manning