During National Children’s Mental Health Week, we launched our Wellness Week initiative, for the third year running.
This initiative provided an opportunity for students and staff to learn more about mental health, develop new skills for dealing with difficulties and work together to create a culture of openness and kindness. From buddy catch-ups to guest talks on adventure, there were lots of opportunities to learn new skills and take some time to relax.
Light-hearted Lunchtimes
The students showed some immense House spirit in a return to a student favourite – House Lip Sync Battle. This proved popular amongst students and staff, cheering on their Houses.
Year 11 students had the opportunity to participate in a Bake Off, which saw them showcasing their best baking efforts, which were judged by Mrs Mullins and Mrs Tonks. Following the Bake Off, Year 11 got hands-on with a biscuit decorating session. Armed with an array of colourful icings, sprinkles and edible embellishments, they transformed simple biscuits into edible masterpieces.
Healthy mind, healthy body
Our wonderful catering team provided a Wellness Week menu, which included setting up a smoothie bar. This encouraged us to think about how our diets impact our both mental and physical wellbeing.
During the week, we were visited by several guest speakers with different areas of expertise, which included the following:
- Erika Biscoe explored the importance of self-care with Year 9
- Rose Todd talked to Year 10 about living a life full of adventure
- Fin Williams gave a talk on managing emotions with Year 8
- Our Year 12 Psychology students, led a talk on sleep with Year 8
Each talk contributed to our student’s wellness toolkit, which helps them develop resilience courage and curiosity.
Mrs Solovyova ran a Zumba session over lunchtime to get students moving during the day on Thursday. A little bit of exercise can go a long way in improving our mind and body, particularly during the school day.
Finding the balance between fun and academic work has been a key takeaway from this week.
“This week has been Wellness week at OHS! It has been a great opportunity for students to learn more about mental health, develop new skills for dealing with difficulties and to work together to create a culture of openness and kindness. It has involved hearing from guest speakers, trying many activities from Zumba to painting nails and relaxing with face masks and of course foodie treats for everyone! We were also delighted to welcome into post our new Wellbeing Prefects and look forward to what they have in store across the whole year, ensuring wellbeing is a focus every day not just for this one week!” Mrs Sheppard, Head of PSHCE, Wellbeing and Social Action