CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH WEEK

This year’s theme was Let’s Connect by making meaningful connections for all, during Mental Health Week and beyond.

Human beings thrive in communities, and this connection is vital for our wellbeing, and our survival. When we have healthy connections - to family, friends and others - this can support our mental health and our sense of wellbeing. When our need for rewarding social connections is not met, we can sometimes feel isolated and lonely - which can have a negative impact on our mental health.

For Children’s Mental Health Week, we encouraged our boys, staff and parents to connect with others in healthy, rewarding and meaningful ways. It was a wonderful week, full of activity and there was a huge buzz around the school:

• We had daily visits to the day care unit at St John and St Elizabeth Hospital where boys delivered and took part in creative workshops, interacting with the hospital’s staff and patients.

• Specialist yoga sessions during PE lessons; boys were introduced to the idea that movement can help us to shift big feelings around and out of our bodies, leaving us feeling different to how we felt before we started. During the sessions the boys experienced how movement, stillness and breathing techniques can help them feel calmer.

• Throughout the week there was a Let’s Connect Hub where boys of all ages could drop in to relax, chat and share any concerns with our Year 7 peer mentors.

• An internet safety talk - making space for conversations about life online.

• Boys connected with nature and each other through a nature trail treasure hunt which was laid by Year 8 for the Year 5 and 6 boys.

• There were various team building and creative activities which took place in lessons, form times and clubs.

• Postcard and letter writing which allowed the boys to send kind messages to one another, friends, family and teachers.

• We connected through music and had a Friday break time, dance party in the playground.

• There were interactive Zooms with Children at a school in Italy.

• Discussion-based story times.

• Daily challenges were sent out to all our families so they could enjoy connecting together at home as well as at school. Finally, we created a Let’s Connect display in the gym and by the end of a very busy week every boy had a polaroid photo of themselves hanging up.

Natalie Hall Wellbeing and Activities Coordinator

YEARS 3&4 DRAMA PRODUCTIONS

Over the last two terms, the boys in Years 3&4 have been working hard on musical performance, comic timing and choreography resulting in two captivating and enjoyable performances by the year groups at Canons Park.

The Year 4 boys presented a wonderful, time travelling, space hopping musical in January with their production of Time Lord. A story that put the time travelling fun of Doctor Who with the perilous board game theme of Jumanji. Mix that with a bit of Year 4 magic and you had for one very entertaining evening.

After discovering an old board game hidden behind a door in their new house, the children of the Johnson family found themselves flying through history, battling evil super evolved dinosaurs who had nefarious plans for world domination. As the boys took us through time, we were treated to meetings with all sorts of fascinating characters including Florence Nightingale, Ludwig Van Beethoven and even a ferocious Boudicca fighting off Romans. With memorable and catchy songs (including one that even Beethoven would have been proud of), exciting rapping and excellent fight scenes, the evening had it all. Special mention should be made to the lighting and sound, all operated seamlessly by Year 4’s very own technical crew

Year 3 overcame just about every elementincluding an interrupting fire alarm and some technical headaches to admirably perform their parody space opera, Star Warts. In a Galaxy Far Far Away- but still with an intimate knowledge of the nuances of London boroughs- Princess Nebula and her motley army of rebels, Jelly Nits, pantomime dames and Diddly Squits took on the evil Umpire in his high tower on the planet Wimbledonia.

We saw Space Rangers cracking puns at an incredible rate, Daft Ada reuniting with her long-lost son, who was swapped with a pot plant at an early age, and Luke Warmwater learning the mysterious ways of the Sauce in this enjoyable romp across the galaxy. It wasn’t just the comedy the boys excelled at, but also the heartfelt poignant solos and high-octane choreography.

Luke Ofield Performing Arts Assistant