Assemblies at Underley Garden – Autumn 1
At Underley Garden, we believe that we all have the potential to learn from everything we do
Colour Mode
Home News & Events Children’s Mental Health Week
The students at Underley Garden have really enjoyed looking into the importance of Childrens Mental Health, exploring strategies to help them feel good.
They participated in lessons and tutor time activities looking at the different links between internet use, diversity and other factors which can contribute to their mental health.
During history, students looked at crimes and how domestic violence also includes emotional abuse and how this is now a crime. We discussed how this can look and what actions can be prosecuted. We explored how mental health can be affected and how we can support people.
The girls in Q5 explored internet safety and quickly made the link, in their discussions, to children’s mental health week. They talked about the fact that cyber bullying can occur and affect people’s mental health. To help improve mental health they suggested ideas of how to make the online environment more positive. E suggested that you can send nice messages, talk to people and tell staff. They finished by watching a video about a boy who was cyber bullied and held up their monsters to show how they would feel. G said nasty messages would confuse her and E stated they would make her angry. When asked what advice they would give G stated he should tell a teacher. In response to this the class discussed that people may feel many emotions in situations like this leading to the desire to shut the world out, seeing a negative decline in mental health.
Other students watched a video on Childrens Mental Health and then then had a discussion about what factors might contribute to mental health, they thought of poverty, religion, bullying and SEN. They looked at what support was out there for young people and who they can talk to for help and support.
Reading Dr Alex George book called ‘A better day’ which is a book written as a positive mental health handbook helped give students further insight into mental health. Students also explored having meditation and their senses through therapy sessions with Catherine too this week; finding out what they do and don’t like to support their emotional regulation.
HT7 watched a video from Place2Be which is a charity that empowers, equips and gives a voice to all children and young people in the UK. They talked about how it is important that they are listened to and who they can talk to if they are worried or sad. We then played the whisper game and passed messages in whispers. The message got lost so we then thought about how important it was that we are listened to and we listen carefully to each other.
As this year’s theme is ‘Express Yourself’, we then made a big mind map of all the things that are important and special to us and how important it is we have these things! They talked about doing things they enjoy, paying attention to their thoughts, building self-esteem and reducing self-pressure. They watched a video which also gave them ideas on how to cope with stress, for example meditation that they engage in every day. Another idea was going for a walk and enjoying fresh air which E and S often ask for, showing they take care in looking after their mind throughout the week. As a class, they looked at the mental health checklist and stated which they had checked off throughout the day. They talked about how much sleep they got, how much water they had drank and how much physical exercise they have done. The young people also discussed why we use strategies to help us control our negative emotions to feel happier within ourselves, improving our mental health. They also discussed that mental health is individual to everyone so we need to be understanding of others as we don’t always know how they feel.
Raising awareness of Children’s mental health, helps to normalise it, letting them know it is something everyone experiences. Classes brain stormed different ways to have a positive mental health, as it’s a key part of feeling happy with life, being connected to other people and having a sense of meaning and belonging with in the community, here are some of the ideas different classes came up with Yoga, Visiting a salon, Being outside, Reading, Listening to music and Running.
A fab week exploring and raising awareness with great participation from our students! Well done everyone.
© Outcomes First Group 2024