This year, Durston House hosted its very first Wellbeing Week. The week kicked off with an assembly that introduced what wellbeing actually was! Many pupils shared that they didn’t really know what ‘wellbeing’ meant, even if they had heard the word a lot!

The week centred around the 5 Pillars of Wellbeing: connect, be physically active, learn a new skill, give to others and be present. Every day, there was a form time activity that was built upon these five pillars. Examples of some activities we engaged in were: meditations, body scans, Jo Wicks workouts and sharing kind messages with one another.

During the week, each year group had a workshop that was chosen to specifically meet the needs of that age range, mitigating against risk factors that can impact poor wellbeing at different ages.

Pre-Prep had the fantastic Adrian from BigFoot and learnt all about the ‘Worry Wizard‘ how to address our feelings and worries!

Junior School had the wonderful team from ‘A-Life‘ come in and set up all different stations that taught us about overall health; from dental hygiene to physical fitness and coping with big feelings!

In Middle School and Upper School, we had Julie from ‘Brave the Rage‘ and the older pupils learnt all about how to be assertive, calm, kind and navigate challenging situations and feelings.

The Upper School pupils also had a Drug and Alcohol workshop that informed them of the facts and the risks when engaging in risk taking behaviours and situations. Information is key!

Parents also had an opportunity to engage in a parent workshop that helped them have tangible strategies to support their children with big emotions and challenging situations.

We look forward to carrying out Wellbeing Week each year and reinforcing the message that our wellbeing matters.

Miss Orr – Head of Junior School