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Head’s blog

Putting wellbeing at the heart of our school

The week at Grimsdell began very calmly and peacefully with an informative and interactive assembly on mindfulness by 2AM. We were taught the benefits of mindfulness and given some simple meditations to do. The petal meditation involved opening and closing our hands to emulate the blossoming of a flower whilst breathing in and out. My personal favourite was breathing our worries out and watching them float away. Thank you to Mrs Moir, Mrs Savva, Mrs Josephides and all of 2AM for this serene assembly. The perfect introduction to Wellbeing week, which commences on Monday 4th February.

At Grimsdell we pride ourselves on our pastoral care and put wellbeing at the heart of the school, supported by the curriculum which we describe as the backbone of the school. Along with the strong pastoral care delivered by our staff team we are also fortunate to have a school counsellor (a clinical child psychotherapist) who can work with children and families to support issues which may be affecting mental health or have an impact on future mental health.

In addition to this we are delighted also to be training our own resident play therapist, Sarah Broom. Mrs Broom has a reached a point in her training where she is beginning to work with children and I hope you enjoy reading her explanation of play therapy in the newsletter this week. Mrs Broom conducted a training session for staff in this area of therapeutic provision and it was amazing to hear how the therapy works and the types of issues it can help resolve. During this session Mrs Broom described play in general as the ‘language’ children use to express themselves. This phrase really struck me and reinforced how important it is for children to just play. Play is not the opposite of work – it is a vital part of a child’s development and ability to process events and feelings in their lives. Play is necessary and natural. In every busy family life (including my own) it is so easy to over plan and structure things for our children. Sometimes just a day at home where the children play in their rooms is as productive as an exciting day out.