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To promote this year’s theme of Know Yourself, Grow Yourself, Wellington College’s Mental Health Ambassadors planned a series of events focusing on the importance of self-awareness and expressing emotions. Children’s Mental Health Week took place at College from 3rd-9th February and presented an opportunity for pupils to join together in wellbeing activities and talk openly about mental health.
“Children’s mental health week is particularly important as mental health is an issue that unites us all regardless of any social divisions.” – Izzy
This year’s week was planned by the four Mental Health Ambassador chairs, Elsie, Izzy, Miles and Ozzie and the two chairs of the Mental Health Committee, Precious and Ry. Dr Jenny Griggs, Head of Student Emotional Health and Wellbeing and Housemaster Mr Tony Adams provided guidance and support while all of the MH Ambassadors took on tasks and ran different events based around the theme of Know Yourself, Grow Yourself.
Activities included drop-in sessions with Wellington’s two therapy dogs – Coco and Fudge – at the new Sixth Form Centre; movies and mindfulness; mixed year group 5-a-side football; hot chocolate and games of Kahoots. These were designed to encourage pupils to press pause and develop self-awareness, a message that was reinforced in an assembly on Monday where the MH Ambassadors introduced three things to reflect on: emotional triggers, strengths and weaknesses, and core values. As Committee Chair, Precious said, “If we don’t truly know ourselves, how can we grow?”
Pastoral care and student wellbeing are interwoven into all aspects of school life at Wellington and support is tailored specifically to each pupil. Staff speak to pupils individually about any issues they might be struggling with before suggesting options that range from in-house coaching to counselling and external options like CBT. To emphasise the importance of everyday holistic wellbeing, the annual Wellbeing Festival in June offers an array of mood-boosting activities catering to all interests. A highlight of the school calendar, the festival promotes healthy mental and physical habits designed to encourage pupils to unwind, have fun and get creative.
As well as a robust Wellbeing Programme, new initiatives are regularly introduced including ‘House R&R’, a weekly discussion held within each school house. These short sessions introduce a different topic each time, from bullying and consent to low mood and perfectionism, and social media.
To monitor mental health throughout the year we now conduct a wellbeing check for all pupils each half term using a Govox survey. This allows pastoral staff to pick up on any students who might be struggling, as well as observing patterns in the mental wellbeing of the student body as a whole.
Peer support has had a noticeable impact on mental health awareness on campus. The Mental Health Ambassadors speak in assemblies, often talking openly about their own journeys with mental health which has encouraged other pupils to do the same. Dr Jenny Griggs has recently qualified as a MHFA Instructor and has planned a revamp of the MH Ambassador Programme next academic year that will see participating pupils come away with an official certification from Mental Health First Aid England.
The College encourages parents to be involved in conversations around pupil mental health, a desire that is facilitated by the introduction of a new online Wellbeing Hub which contains a wealth of tailored resources for parents, pupils and staff. Parents are regularly invited to visit campus and, as part of our robust transition process for new students, the pastoral staff are planning to run pupil wellbeing talks for parents starting in the next academic year. This will look at topics including neurodiversity, online safety, relational aggression, the teenage brain, body image and self-esteem.
Dr Jenny Griggs’ advice to parents is to understand the importance of helping children to recognise and understand their emotions and to reassure them that all emotions have a place. She says, “Allowing children to make mistakes sometimes shows them that it’s part of life and helps them to navigate setbacks. It’s important that parents and staff role-model how to cope with life’s challenges, how to deal with big emotions and how to apologise to and empathise with others.”
Find out more about Wellbeing at Wellington College
