This week, our senior section have been celebrating Wellbeing Week 2023.  While we encourage everyone to build wellbeing into their normal daily lives, our annual event reminds us all of the importance of prioritising our wellbeing and taking time out to do things for ourselves that nourish our minds and bodies. 

The week has been full of activities for Senior students. For our Key Stage 3 students, we have had ‘Just Dance’ sessions during lunchtime, mindful colouring, quiet reading spaces, positive affirmation workshops, and delicious breakfasts within form groups.

For our GCSE students, activities have included delicious breakfasts with their Year group, creating Clay Pinch pots, pick and mix PE activities during their Games lesson, Taskmaster, and Chocolate Hide & Seek.

We also welcomed personal trainers from Nuffield Health Wakefield who provided fantastic PT sessions for students in Years 8-10.

Our Year 11 and Sixth Form students were introduced to our on site Fitness Suite, reserved for our older students to use in their own time. We encourage all our students, but especially those in their important examination years, to balance their studies alongside being physically active, whether that is in the gym, in a sports club, outdoors or their own chosen sport.  

A particular favourite activity for many of the students this week has been Miss North’s Nature Walks during Games, where students have explored the local area, accompanied by Miss North, noticing the changing season, the nature  surrounding us in Wakefield and discovering lots of trivia Miss North has about plants! This activity was a great way to encourage our students to practise mindfulness and notice the everyday beauty around us in daily life. 

Wakefield Girls’ has a long tradition of facilitating Samaritan trained peer mentor support to our students. Peer mentors are available for all students to speak to during lunchtimes. As part of Wellbeing Week, our new peer mentors visited Samaritans Wakefield to receive formal Peer Mentor Student Training, which they will then use to inform their practice back here in school. 

Wellbeing Week concluded with the opening of our much anticipated Happy Café – an open invitation for all students to enjoy a hot chocolate and biscuits with their friends !

Mr J Harris 

Deputy Head, Pastoral