Running a Wellbeing Day in School: Supporting Pupils and Staff

Kerry Bridges has been the Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead at Archbishop Temple Church of England High School in Preston, Lancashire since 2021 but part of the Pastoral and Safeguarding Teams for a great deal longer. She is happy to talk about supporting wellbeing in schools all day long and has a particular interest in staff wellbeing.

In this series of 4 blogs, I talk about one of the things we do in school to support our children’s wellbeing in the hope that there is something here you can use or adapt. In my last blog, I talked about how we pulled the day together. Read on to find out what happened on the day itself.

As I have said in one of my previous blogs, I really wanted the day to support the mental health of our adults as well as our pupils. The day before the big day, everything was completely ready to go, but I had to leave school early for an appointment. The whole evening, I could not stop running over the arrangements in my head. I’m saying this because if it happens to you, you have someone here who understands. I wanted the day to be a great experience for everyone involved, but I almost forgot about myself. That sort of feeling is common for someone in our position, but it isn’t OK. Make sure you have friends or family around you who will support you and are in your corner. I know that I would not be able to do my job without having them in mine.

In any case, the day arrived. Reverend Joe had sent a video to show in form time to explain who he was, what would happen in the Collective Act of Worship and to set the scene for the day. This was a great way to begin and something I would recommend. Helping the children be clear about our reasons and expectations really set the day off successfully. His worship was very child centred and interactive and exactly what we needed. Even if you are not in a Church school, bringing as many people as you can together at the beginning of the day was so uplifting. We really did feel connected.

My next concern had been that the visitors who were presenting may not be able to make it on the day. Of course, I needn’t have worried. They were there as requested and went over and above what we had asked for. There are so many people who are happy to give up their time to support an event like this in school. Never be afraid to reach out. Nobody has ever said “no”.

For the rest of the day, Joe and I made hot chocolate for our sponsored walkers. This allowed us to see and chat to every single one of the children. What an enormous privilege it was. We had such a great time hearing all their stories of what they had been up to. Everyone was so positive.

And so, the day came to an end. We waved the children off and collapsed in the staffroom. We had done it.

So, what did everyone think? Well, we asked the children to give us some feedback which was overwhelmingly positive. There was an even split across of which bits they had enjoyed, and they gave us some brilliant ideas to implement for next time. Yes, we are running it again this year and we will continue to do so in the future. I hope that you are given the opportunity to do so too. If you are, I would love to hear what you are up to. Please do reach out and let me know if I can help. Working together and making connections is, after all, what it’s all about.