Wellness Week

Ahead of national Mental Health Awareness Week, we ran our own Wellness Week, now a popular annual event, encouraging the whole school community to reflect upon what it means to be happy and healthy.

Spearheaded by our pastoral team and Sixth Form welfare captains, this year’s wellness week introduced some new ideas, including the ‘care bear’ initiative (enthusiastically launched at assembly by some energetic, full-size care bears). Everyone, including teachers, was assigned an anonymous buddy to deliver random acts of kindness. Over the course of the week, lovely notes were left in lockers, confetti and pictures were left on desks, flat whites were delivered to the staff room and healthy snacks were supplied. Each morning, uplifting tunes were played as everyone arrived at school; the library showcased a selection of recommended books on mental health; the catering team provided free fresh fruit and cheering quotes and anecdotes from teachers were dotted around the school.

At break, Just Dance was set up in the exhibition space – a big hit with girls from Year 7 to the Sixth Form – and the seventh floor was transformed into seventh heaven, with Lower Sixth students offering hair braiding and nail painting at lunchtime. A visit from Mrs Bingham’s dog, Max, was of course the highlight for many – all the more exciting, knowing that we will have our own school dog later this year.

One of the key aims of the week, however, was to encourage continued open dialogue around mental health. Our counsellors ran creative relaxation sessions and a powerful assembly on mindfulness.  But for many, the most poignant sessions of the week were hearing from our Sixth Formers: three brave students gave incredible talks, sharing their first hand experiences of varying mental health issues. We are very grateful to have a community and culture where such valuable, personal stories can be shared in the spirit of kindness, empathy and generosity.