Millbrook Junior School and Mind celebrate Children's Mental Health Week

The children have learnt that everyone has mental health. Mental Health is about our feelings and our emotions. Everyone has different feelings all the time. Some are described as comfortable such as happy, proud or joy and others are described as uncomfortable such as sad, frustrated or angry. Everyone gets all of these feelings from time to time but it is how we deal with them.

The children have also thought about those uncomfortable feelings in terms of big and small feelings. Sometimes feelings are small and we just deal with them, but sometimes these feelings can become big and be overwhelming. This is when day to day life and our mental health can be affected.

Some Y5 pupils were asked what they had learnt during mental health week. Harry said, ‘Some people struggle…we need to have patience with each other and accept people’s differences.’ Joshua commented, ‘We learnt that drugs and alcohol can affect your mind and mental health’ and Jack said, ‘We have learnt about how to keep healthy so we can keep our mind healthy.’

The school has used resources from Place 2 Be whose theme this year is ‘Know Yourself, Grow Yourself’. The children have been thinking about what works for them in order to relax and unwind when things get a bit much. Some ideas have been relaxing in the bath, going for a walk, reading a good book or watching a film.

Jenny Green (Assistant Head and PSHE Leader) said, ‘We feel it is vitally important that we equip our children to deal with the hectic world we live in. We want our children to build resilience, life skills as well as an understanding and empathy towards others.’

At the end of the week the school welcomed the Mayor of Kettering, Cllr Craig Skinner into school as well as Callum Sanderson from Kettering Mind. Mind is the Mayor’s chosen charity for this year. Mind Provide advice and support to anyone experiencing problems with their mental health. Monies raised from the wear something bright non-uniform day at the end of the week will go towards this charity.

Cllr Craig Skinner said, ‘Children's Mental Health week is a brilliant chance for the children to reflect on their own thoughts and feelings as well, as how their parents and carers may be affected by their own mental health. This helps the children to understand the world in which they are living and equips them with skills to promote positive mental health as they grow and develop. The current generation of children at Millbrook Junior School are all a part of the COVID generation, who were impacted so significantly by lockdowns and COVID restrictions throughout their early school lives. We know the lasting impact this has had on society in general and especially children, so it's very important we are able to help them navigate this.

Kettering Mind is the Mayor’s charity for the year and we were delighted to partner with Millbrook Junior school as part of their week-long focus on mental health. It's been great to hear about all of the activities which the children have been up to and the non-uniform day helped to raise vital funds for Kettering Mind. It was a pleasure to attend the school to deliver some co-produced assemblies with Kettering Mind and to see all of the children in their brightest clothes.’

Callum Sanderson (Outreach Worker) at Mind said, ‘I have had the pleasure of visiting Millbrook Junior School this week as they have been taking part in Children’s Mental Health week and fundraising for us in Kettering Mind.

Thank you to the staff, families and children of the school for their generous donations! Each donation we receive helps us to continue to support the wellbeing and mental health of those within Kettering and the surrounding area.

We had the opportunity to participate in the school’s coffee morning and assemblies this week which have been fantastic. Being able to provide advice and support to anyone experiencing a mental health problem is our key goal within Mind; this partnership has been an amazing way for us to achieve this goal and raise awareness at the same time. Thank you, Millbrook!