King's High Festival of Wellbeing
Mental wellbeing, confidence, social ideals, laughter yoga, resilience, mindfulness, relationships, identity, music, dance, comedy, meditation, fitness, self-care - and knitting. King’s High’s first Festival of Wellbeing was a great success, and involved the whole King’s community in a week of talks, workshops and sessions.
Natasha Devon MBE, the writer, mental health campaigner, and former Government advisor, opened the Festival. Natasha, an electric speaker, talked to girls, from Year 10 to Sixth Form, about mental health, anxiety, and social ideals, and delivered the Parents Forum talk: ‘Promoting good mental health and high self-esteem.’
TEDx speaker, Cat Williams spoke on minimising stress and maximising potential. Laughter Yoga expert Joe Hoare, who runs workshops from Glastonbury to the NHS, introduced the girls to Laughter Yoga, and there were sessions on mindfulness, dance and yoga. Laura Dumbleton-Jones and Nikki Emerton, co-founders of Happy Confident Kids, spent the day with Year 7, who embraced their inner Superheroes in some fun, physical workshops.
The comedian and writer, Neil Hughes, author of ‘Walking on Custard and the Meaning of Life’, explained the link between mental health and….the physics of custard. All week, there were drop-in pop-up clubs, including mindful journaling, colouring, and gratitude sessions, and girls knitted Easter bunnies, to raise funds for Welcombe Hills School, in Stratford.
Leading British choir, Ex Cathedra, renowned for their award-winning Singing Playgrounds and Singing Medicine projects, brought the joy of singing to the whole school. Pupils and staff sang, danced and laughed, in a rousing finale to the Festival.
Mr Nicholson comments: ‘At the end of our very first Festival of Wellbeing, we can all reflect with great pride on the way in which the students at King’s engaged so positively with the visiting speakers, and the range of activities to develop an intelligent and informed sense of the paramount importance of a healthy body and healthy mind. We very much look forward to embedding these ideas further within our school life and to many more such Festivals, which are of such benefit for both students and staff.’
Discover well-being hints and tips by reading our weekly blog by Well-being Mentor Emma Williams.