This week was Children’s Mental Health Week. The theme this year is “My Voice Matters.” The aim is about empowering children with the tools they need to express themselves. “Finding your voice and purpose in life is one thing, but, very often, when it is time to use that voice and make a change, you will need a bit of teamwork to make things happen.” Marcus Rashford

At Breaside we believe that one of the most important voices we hear is that of our children. With that in mind, we planned a variety of activities this week designed to give them the platform to express themselves.

The week began with the children thinking about themselves and a quality that they are proud of, each child then wrote this on a paper chain and we linked them all together as a class. The week continued with each class looking at the importance of nutrition and how this effects focus and wellbeing. They then created their own menu of foods that they really enjoy, and we will share these with the chef. Next, the children explored how music can produce the hormones serotonin and adrenaline dependent on the genre they are listening to. Therefore, the children all nominated a song to add to a class playlist which makes them feel happy and energised. Finally, we discussed how doing kind things or saying nice things activates the part of our brain that makes you feel happy which has a positive impact on those around you. Consequently, we all sent an uplifting message to each other which we shared.

Importantly, we wanted to celebrate that we are a wonderfully diverse community with different strengths and weaknesses but when we come together we create something very special. This was encapsulated in the aerial photograph taken of all the children linking together as a heart and coming together as one.