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

The week centered 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 activities 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 specfically meet the needs of that age range, mitigating against risk factors that can impact wellbeing at different ages.

The Pre-Prep had the fantastic Adrian from BigFoot and learnt all about the ‘Worry Wizard,’ and how to get 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 to coping with big feelings!

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

The Upper School boys also had a drug and alcohol workshop that informed them of the facts and the risks on engaging in risk taking behaviours and situations. Information is key!

The 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.

Now we look to embed some of the things we have learnt about our wellbeing into our daily school practices.

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

Miss Orr – Head of Junior School