After looking at why it is crucial to look after our Mental Health we wanted to see if we were able to identify our triggers in the hopes that by recognising them we can prevent our brains from 'flipping out' Everyone's brains can 'flip out' at times but we can try our best to keep our brain in harmony during more stressful times.
We displayed these posters around the school sharing the message that
'It is ok to not be ok'
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In year 4 we practiced another calming strategy today to help keep our brains working to the very best they can.
- Gratitude journal
Our brains find it easier to think of all the bad things about our day and it can take some practice thinking about the good things! Therefore, taking time to write a gratitude journal can get us into the mindset of thinking of all those good things that have happened in our day and made us smile.
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In year 4 we practiced another calming strategy today to help keep our brains working to the very best they can.
- 5 things you see, hear and feel.
You can do this wherever you are. All you have to do is take note of 5 things you can see, hear, and feel and this can help focus your mind on the present and help regain focus and control.
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In year 4 we have been discussing how sometimes our brains feel like they will explode! We have to remember too much and it can be truly overwhelming. We wanted to ensure we were caring for our brains in the best way possible. Firstly, we looked at how our brains have an upstairs and a downstairs, when they both work together as a team we can find it easier to handle challenging tasks in lessons or we might find it easier to focus on what we need to do. But when the upstairs and the downstairs do not work well together it can mean that all tasks and activities can be even harder to complete or manage. As a team, we came up with some strategies that we can use to help our brains work well together and to offer ourselves some kindness when things are a little overwhelming. These strategies included:
- Box breathing
This can help us focus our minds on our own selves and being able to calm down our overwhelming feelings.
Tomorrow is World Mental Health Day and schools up and down the country are taking part in ITV's Britain Get Talking campaign.
Head over to itv.com/BritainGetTalking to learn more and to see Ant and Dec talking about the importance of talking to others. Don’t forget to tune in to ITV1 at 8pm tomorrow on World Mental Health Day for an hour of Britain Get Talking programming, featuring a special episode of The Martin Lewis Money Show, as well as a Tonight exclusive with Susanna Reid who investigates children’s mental health and the importance of us talking together as a family.
As a school we are asking the children to share any worries they have at home with a trusted adult. There is a talking homework task for them to complete.
Mental Health has declined in almost 40% of school children (NHS Survey). That’s why Britain Get Talking is setting the nation a different kind of homework.
Our project is looking at how art helps support our mental health and well-being. During the sessions so far we have created personalised colour charts then mixed our colours up in a ' colour mixing bowl using different materials. We have explored what different thoughts and feeling come to mind for each colour and we have done this using stories like Dr Seuss 'My Many coloured Days' and A Colour Monster by Joshua Brooks. All our activities have been done with our favourite music playlist in the background making us smile and feel good.
To mark the start of children's mental health week, the children in Barbados class listened to the story "The invisible string". During our circle time we spoke about the word "belonging", its meaning and discussed how we are all connected. We then drew pictures of the people we love and demonstrated how we all belong in Barbados class, using string to symbolise our connection.
In year 4 art this term, we have been thinking about mindfulness and so made sensory pictures. We drew patterns onto paper then punctured holes and made bumps using pens and pencils (depending on the size and shape that we wanted to create). We made sure to have a piece of corrugated card underneath the paper to make precise patterns and to prevent the pencils from sliding around. It was very calming and we enjoyed feeling the textured patterns that we had created.
At Mead we celebrated Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week.
The theme was 'Growing Together' considering how the children have grown and how they can help others to grow.
Lots of activities were carried out by all the children from going home with a smile by telling jokes, creating support balloons, giving thanks in a gratitude jar, writing poems, undercover kindness, positive thinking, mindfulness colouring, well being walks and thinking about things they love doing to make them and others happy.
Here are some of the photos and work for you to see.
Well done children!
Have a great half term break doing things you love doing.
