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W E L L - B E I N G
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Well-Being Week
Mrs Elizabeth Channer, Deputy Head Pastoral
The purpose ofWell-BeingWeek was to bring some variety,
togetherness and perhaps a new activity, experience or
perspective to everyone in the School, both staff and pupils,
and to make everyone stop and think about their own
well-being and that of others.
The definition of well-being is:“the state of being comfortable,
healthy, or happy”, but too often, well-being is equated only with
mental health and that is both narrow and misleading.
Most of us do not strive for the Buddhist ideal of nirvana; we
are all just trying to get on with our lives in the best way we can
within the parameters of our
circumstances.Wehave to accept
that life will throw difficulties at us, be they emotional or practical
and so we must equip ourselves with the tools and the strategies
to know how to cope when things get tough. With this in mind,
a programme was planned with something for everyone. Staff and
pupils alike could find solace in music or physical activity, dance,
artistic pursuits, the great outdoors, giving to others, learning a new
skill or simply quiet contemplation.
ATaize service in Chapel started the day in contemplative
fashion on three days and a host of other activities followed.
The daily forest ramble at lunchtime gave the opportunity to break
out of the usual routine and get into the fresh air, as did gardening
in the Southern Garden. We also offered swimming, yoga, a wildly
popular flash mob dance attended on the second occasion by
close to two hundred staff and pupils and the Morning Mile, made
extra attractive on the Friday by the arrival of theYogurt and Juice
Network and their fabulous juice bar.They also delivered a talk
to L4th about the link between a healthy gut and mental health.
Alex from the Self EsteemTeam spoke energetically and with great
warmth and honesty to pupils about choosing healthy friendships.
The Library was a hive of creativity with origami lessons and
the cake decorating class in the Courtyard Building was over-
subscribed. It was wonderful to see that the mindful aspect of
knitting was also appreciated, often by unexpected people! There
was singing to get the endorphins going and a talk about music
therapy for those with life-limiting conditions.The Anti-Bullying
Ambassadors distributed a menu of so-called random acts of
kindness for everyone to perform during the week. The crowning
glory of the week was the magnificent Well-Being Tree, beautifully
created by the skilled Mr Whitbread and Mr Fernandez. It now
stands in the Atrium, festooned with messages of good will and
positivity written by members of the school community and it
is a really heart-warming sight. It is so beautiful that it seems a
shame to leave it up just for one week so it will stay up at
least until Christmas.
Finally, let us not forget that giving to others and connectedness
to our community are crucial. Mindful of those close to home who
might need our support, we organised a collection for the Epping
Forest Food Bank and some Sixth Formers accompanied Mrs
Channer in taking the mountain of donations to Langston Road
The week could not have happened without the good will,
time, creativity and expertise of the staff and the energy and
open-mindedness of all those who participated in the activities. I
really hope that some of them can become a regular feature of
school life, not just reserved for a special week in the year, because
there really was a lovely buzz around the place. Let’s do it again
next year!
Cover artwork by Tamsyn Hancock, L6W.
Sixth Form Year GroupWinner,
Geography Photography Competition 2019