Mental Health & Well-being

Reception

We looked at solving conflicts with our friends that we put into place when playing snakes and ladders. We also looked at looking after ourselves and how to keep our teeth clean.

Key Stage One

We looked at what play is and what skills we use for playing. We talked about how play can help use with mindfulness especially when there is a goal. We then used LEGO to create a KS1 town. The children had to build different parts of the town and put it together. 

For learning (L part of MOLAR) we learnt a new skill of how to draw animals using an egg shape as a starting point. Once we had learnt how to do it, we used the skill to draw other animals. For others / relationships (O & R of MOLAR) we looked at friendship and what that is. We thought about how trust is an important part of friendship. We had to lead a friend through an obstacle course using trust to help. 

We also listened to a couple of stories about trust and friendship.

Lower Key Stage 2 (Year 3 and 4)

Mindfulness: We looked at different mindful meditation strategies: focus bubbles, guided imagery (thinking of our favourite place) or deep breathing (number breathing). We then reflected on our favourite one that we can use in the future. We drew a mindfulness picture that makes us feel good about ourselves and calm.

Learning: we looked at different ways of learning and carried out a carousel activity of three different types of learning on the topic of climate change (1. Watching video, 2. Reading and drawing mindmaps on large sugar paper, 3. Collaborating through a board game activity) We then learned a new skill of drawing realistic sea turtles and dolphins using a step by step video. 

Others: We looked at a powerpoint about guide dogs and how they helped people with visual impairment.  Also talked about how dogs help in a variety of different ways. E.g. hearing dogs and epilepsy.  Designed a leaflet about guide dogs and had the opportunity to guess the dog name for raising money for Guide Dogs.
Relationships:  Looked at positive and negative relationships.  Thought about how these affect us.  How can we deal with negative relationships?  We then made paperchain people and on them we wrote down messages and words about positive relationships.

Upper Key Stage 2 (Year 5 and 6)

For learning, we used Chrome Music Lab to create collaborative pieces of music.  We also spent some time sharing how we feel about music and the link it can have to our emotions.

For ‘relationships’, we explored the characters in The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, and how they look after their mental wellbeing. We discussed our relationships with ourselves and how it is important to be kind to our minds. We then created our own illustrations based on our emotions. 

For ‘others’, we discussed ways in which we can help those we know, our wider community and the world. We also considered how helping others helps us and the positive impact it has. We then made Christmas cards which will be delivered in care packages to elderly and isolated members of our local community.

For mindfulness, we talked about getting lost in a relaxing activity so that our mind focuses on something calming and fun. There were lots of different stations set up across the class, such as: embroidery, sewing, drawing mandalas, lego, origami etc. for the children to have a go at.