Children’s Mental Health Week events for students and parents
4th March 26
Children’s Mental Health Week provides an annual opportunity for us to pause and reflect on our commitment to student well-being, which is at the heart of our school philosophy.
For this year’s event, which ran 9-15 February, we hosted a range of activities and sessions promoting mental well-being for both students and parents.
Mindful activities
Upper School students in Years 7 and 8 spent a morning taking part in a mindful activity.
Options included:
- Lego building
- Pencil case decoration
- Chess & backgammon
- Nail art
- Heath dog walk
- Yoga session
- Warhammer painting
Dedicated Callovers
In Lower School, students spent time in Callover (our term for assembly) unpacking what ‘wellness’ means and how we can look after our mental health.
Meanwhile, Sixth Form members of our student-led council, School Six, delivered a presentation to Upper School students during their Callovers, sharing information and advice for maintaining good mental health.
Expert discussions
Older year groups took part in age-appropriate discussions led by experts from organisations including The Body Conversation and Everyone’s Invited.
Topics included body image, positive masculinity, gendered pressures and rape culture, and the conversations that took place were thoughtful, respectful and insightful.
Fireside chat for parents
Support was also offered to parents seeking advice on how to best support their children’s mental well-being, via a fireside chat with clinical psychologist Dr Tara Porter.
Tara answered questions from fellow parents about the challenges of raising children in the modern age, drawing on many of the themes she covers in her latest book, Good Enough: A Framework for Modern Parents.
They include adopting a ‘good enough’ mindset, a relationship-based approach, and a ‘firm and kind’ authoritative parenting style – all geared towards taking the pressure out of parenting.
Having worked with countless teens in her practice, she noted that “the roots of distress are often in childhood” and – alluding to the rapid growth in mental health challenges facing children and young people – quoted Desmond Tutu’s words: “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”
Huge thanks to Tara for sharing her insights and time with the KAS community!
Read more about our committment to student well-being on our Lower School Pastoral Care and Upper School Pastoral Care pages.
