Publish date: 30 November 2021
More than 100 children attending the Thomas Jones Primary School in North Kensington said they benefited from wellbeing workshops hosted by the Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service.
The one hour workshops were held at the school, for children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6, and included creative activities on what wellbeing means, and how to achieve it using practical exercises that they can do every day.
“I liked this activity it was very calming” said one child. Another added, “I think it helped me calm down.”
The team from the Grenfell NHS service also engaged the children in exercises to help them cope with difficult emotions and develop teamwork skills.
Overall, the children reported that the workshops were fun, calming, helpful and taught them the value of teamwork. Some said that more workshops should be provided.
“Please come back” said one child.
Another said: “I appreciated when you helped me today. I now understand how important it is to work together.”
What other children had to say:
“Thank you for this workshop it was very fun”
“I loved the session, it was so fun and the staff were really helpful”
“I felt like a team and I had lots of fun with the NHS”
“Thank you for reminding myself to immerse myself in my inner world”
“It was very fun when we did our drawing”
“Today was very fun I really liked the physical session”
“I liked the first session it felt like P.E.”
“More time for making safe space”
A teacher from the school said that the school was looking forward to more wellbeing workshops for the children: “The workshops were very successful. The children enjoyed them very much. The children particularly enjoyed the practical element. We have also recently fed this positivity back to governors.”
Farah Amaioua, CAMHS Practitioner with the Service was one of the team that delivered the workshops. “Belle, Sofian and I delivered wellbeing sessions to 107 children in years 3,4,5 and 6 at Thomas Jones primary school. We used physical activities to think about how children can better work with each other, building on their communication and team work skills. We also taught the children a grounding activity (Safe Place) to help them feel calm and we practiced using their Safe Places as a group,” she said.