IDEAS FOR YOUR SCHOOL

Connect:

• ‘Morning Greeters’ at the gate, who stand alongside teachers welcoming children into school to start each day with a smile
• ‘Be Nice to someone New’ campaign to promote connecting
• ‘Being in someone else’s shoe project’: helping students to understand and relate to differences
• Empathy project: encouraging students to connect more with people they don’t know
• ‘Five-minute Friendship’ – like speed dating, students are encouraged to talk to new people
• Have a Buddy Stop / Playground Buddies / Playground Pals
• Connect bingo during playtimes and lunchtimes
• Have a ‘WOW Wednesday!’ lunchtime club – the idea of this club is to be out on the playground and field every Wednesday with a different game/activity each week. The Ambassadors will demonstrate the game/activity and then encourage others who are feeling ‘left out’ or not sure what to do at lunchtime to join in
• Have a reading shed and Lego table in the playground
• Implement a ‘Worry Box’ system in each classroom which the Wellbeing Ambassadors check weekly
• Have a ‘feelings’ box – with the school counselors replying to the comments in a monthly health and wellbeing newsletter

Keep Learning:

• Have a music day where teachers and students who can play an instrument offers to help others try out new instruments
• Connect people through learning different foreign languages
• Survey to connect students with similar interests
• Encourage students to learn a new skill in their own time and to send in photos of them doing so
• Learn new words that relate to wellbeing
• Keep Learning – teacher reward and acknowledge when students are using 5 Ways

Be Active:

• Sports Leaders leading active play during lunchtimes such as basketball, football, hula-hooping, skipping, and den building
• Run a ‘Be Active’ day during Healthy Living Week where, including activities such as dance, an obstacle course, and a treasure hunt
• ‘Get active’ monthly fun day with sporting activities
• Happiness walks by the Wellbeing Ambassadors
• Organize a school hiking trip
• Create a gardening club
• Have yoga sessions during school time
• Have a climbing wall in the playground

Take Notice:

• Put a range of prompt questions up around the school to encourage children and adults to take notice of others’ emotions such as: can you find someone who needs a helping hand today?
• Run a weekly ‘Mindfulness Club’ where students can come along and spend some quiet time coloring, listening to music, and making posters to display on the Wellbeing Board
• Mindful meditation
• Mindful coloring in tutor time
• Train your Puppy Mind – Mindfulness Club and Online Mindfulness Resources
• Have a prayer space event, based around the idea of stillness, where children can come at lunchtime if they need a place to be still
• A room to go to where you can calm down and work through tough emotions/distress
• Play relaxing music at lunchtime
• Have a ‘Gratitude Project’ – a series of assemblies; videos or resources that encourage students to ‘take notice of what is happening in the wider world – such as children who don’t have access to school; women who don’t have rights, etc. to encourage students to feel grateful and appreciate more what they do have in their lives such as free education, healthcare, etc

Give:

• Promote a local recycling project which the school is supporting
• Charity events
• compliments card pop-up stall
• Monthly thank you notes to students and teachers

Promoting whole school wellbeing ideas:

• Wellbeing Wednesday
• Display the 5 steps to well-being on the TV screens around the school
• Wellbeing Ambassadors being part of the School Council
• Wellbeing board outside the dining hall
• Put posters around the school, with inspirational quotes and positive affirmations.
• Wellbeing Awards
• Create an infographic that can be shared with staff, students, and parents, which highlights the health and wellbeing initiatives.
• ‘Bee Positive’ – a campaign for positive messages to be posted around the school and to be given to students;
• Develop a short film to share with the school about mental health awareness and share simple things that children can do to look after their health and support others.
• Keyrings with 5 Ways to Wellbeing
• 5 Ways Stickers
• Inspiring Quotes around the school
• Photos up of Wellbeing Ambassadors
• Online Wellbeing Web pages with links to wellbeing resources and support; Cool Connecting an Initiative to promote support and connecting with people including signposting to support inside and outside of schools including Young Minds and Kooth;

Source: Eikon