The effects of lockdown has had a significant impact on young people, so as all students begin to return to school again we want to help students get ready to learn. For many schools this will mean prioritising student wellbeing.
The Department for Education outlined guidance for education on physical health and mental wellbeing. It includes range of learning outcomes on mental wellbeing for students to reach by the end of primary school.
There is an emphasis on understanding that everyone has mental health, in the same way that we all have physical health. It promotes students learning self-care strategies, and developing understanding about the actions that we can take to improve our own wellbeing, such as exercise, getting enough sleep and staying connected with others.
It was with these learning outcomes in mind that we created our Mental Health and Wellbeing Workshops for schools. We have a workshop for students in Early Years Foundation to Key Stage One, and a workshop that we deliver with students in Key Stage 2 and 3.
Both workshops draw from The Five Ways to Wellbeing, applying an evidence based approach to improving student wellbeing. The messages contained within our workshops are clear and positive, allowing teachers to easily carry the messages throughout their whole school.
Here’s a summary of the workshops…
The Wellbeing Adventure – EYFS/KS1
For students in Early Years Foundation and Key Stage One, your students will go on interactive adventure into the Wellbeing Jungle. They will meet a range of exciting and engaging characters such as the Chatty Parrot, the Calm Crocodile and the Soothing Monkey.
In this workshop students will learn an easy mindfulness technique, new vocabulary for talking about emotions and how and where they can access support.
The Steps to Wellbeing Wisdom – KS2/KS3
For students in Key Stage 2 and 3 the workshop features an animated story about Jacob. Jacob has an exam coming up, and he’s starting to feel worried about it. As the story develops, students will learn how the changes in Jacob’s behaviour are affecting his level of mental wellbeing.
Students will then learn the Steps to Wellbeing Wisdom; Simple action steps that students can use to improve their wellbeing. The workshops then embed the learning by allowing students to put these new skills into practice through role-play, discussion and group activities.
Students will learn that everyone has mental health in the same way that we have physical health, how we can talk about how we are feeling and how this can improve our mental wellbeing. By the end of the workshop, we see how Jacob improves his wellbeing by applying the steps to wellbeing wisdom.
We will be visiting schools regularly with our mental health and wellbeing workshops. All of our workshops are covid secure and provided through a socially distance delivery.
Would you like to have the workshops visit your school? Learn more and get in touch here.
