At Pakeman, we do everything we can to support our children’s mental health and well-being. We also do our best to make sure our parents and carers have the support and resources they need to support their children.
In February, we have took part in Children’s Mental Health Week. This gave us the opportunity to shine a light on what mental health is and to examine our children’s understanding of what mental health means to them.
Throughout the week, children carried out a range of exciting activities which actively promoted ways to think about what we mean by mental health and what we can do when something arises which affects us. We explored the importance of talking and listening to each other. We shared stories about emotions. We looked at creative things that can help us to relax and reduce anxiety. We talked about how it is okay to make mistakes and that we often learn from these. We discussed the importance of spending time together, as a family, to do lovely things and how this can help boost our confidence and self-esteem. We also looked at some places we can go to and people we can chat to if we feel the need for help. And if we do feel the need for help, then that is okay too.
One thing that has stood out most in our focused week is that it is good to talk. Emotions take many forms but when we are struggling with our emotions – feeling angry, afraid, worried, confused or lonely, then we have a better chance of feeling better if we let someone know. It takes courage to talk about the way that we’re feeling inside and we should feel proud of ourselves if we do speak out.
We created a special newsletter which highlights some of the children’s amazing work and signposts our parents/carers and children to links that they will hopefully find useful:
SPECIAL EDITION NEWSLETTER WEEK Spring week 5
