Mental Health and Well-being at Garfield

The Learning Mentor’s Newsletter

Hello everyone,

I hope you have all had a great start to 2023!

The theme of this newsletter is Mental Health and Well-being.

Well-being

Well-being is about feeling good about ourselves and our life. This is a key factor to support our mental health. Keeping positive and showing positive behaviour to others.

5 key points to our well-being are:

1. Connect- good relations with others. You could arrange a day out with friends or family.
2. Be active- being active can help your self-esteem and improve your mental health. Maybe go for a long walk or try a different sport.
3. Keep learning- learning builds a sense of purpose. Learn to cook a different dish or look into free online courses to grow your knowledge.
4. Give to others- showing an act of kindness gives you a feeling of self-worth and a sense of reward. Spending time with a family member or friend that is lonely or volunteer some free time is a great way to give to others.
5. Take notice- pay attention to your own needs, your thoughts and your body. Take 5 minutes a day to relax and try some breathing exercises.

Trying these techniques above could help you feel more positive and help get the best out of life.

Mental Health

Mental health is about our feelings, our thinking and our moods. Looking after our mental health is very important. Using the 5 points for our well-being can support our mental health.

This year, Children’s Mental Health Week will take place from the 6^th – 12^th of February. The theme this year is let’s connect. We will be encouraging our children at Garfield to connect through kindness.

Here are a few ideas you could do over the February half term holiday.

• Make a family worry jar, decorate an old glass jar together and use it to put any worries in, however big or small. This could be opened at the end of the week and discussed as a family and try and resolved each other’s problems. Parents and carers are encouraged to write their worries also.
• Get the whole family on a long walk- even the teenagers!
• Write a list of all the things you’re grateful for.

I hope you find this useful.

As we are coming to the end of our first half term, I hope you have a lovely break and take time out for you.

From Mrs Callender