Movement For Mental Health By Mr. Harrington

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme for 2024 is Movement: Moving For Our Mental Health.

Regular physical activity is known to improve mental health, quality of life and wellbeing. There is a strong connection between our bodies and our minds, so looking after ourselves physically also helps us to prevent problems with our mental health. 

Exercise releases “feel good” hormones which reduce feelings of stress and anger. It also helps us to feel better about our bodies. It can improve our sleep too, and boost our self-esteem. 

At St. Helen’s College, children are provided with so many opportunities to exercise their bodies and minds through physical activity. We have a carefully planned PE/Games curriculum, taught by specialist teachers, throughout the school. All of the pupils from Ducklings to Year 6 have weekly PE and Games lessons where they are given the chance to develop skills in a wide variety of sporting activities, and where they learn to love sport through exercise. Children in Years 2 to 6 all take part in a week-long intensive swimming course as part of their curriculum. Swimming is an important life skill and we encourage parents to continue lessons outside of school. We encourage the enjoyment of team games and sportsmanship and all of the children from Years 3 to 6 have represented the school in at least one sporting fixture this year.

In addition, over the course of the year there have been over 150 co-curricular clubs and activities offered to the children, with sporting and exercise activities including karate, tennis, cricket, football, netball, basketball and very many more!

Over the past month, 100 pupils of all running abilities from St. Helen’s College attended the TCS Mini London Marathon where they ran either 1 km or 2.6 km. We also ran a Mini School Marathon this week in Court Park, in which another 100 pupils took part. 

In order to encourage an active lifestyle in other ways, we run Bikeability courses at school for our Year 6 children and we encourage pupils throughout the school to walk, cycle or scoot to school wherever possible.

As with all things, the consistency of messaging and modelling at both home and school is crucial. Although there are lots of ways your children are getting exercise at school, it is important that they continue to carry this on outside school. Children who see their parents participating in and enjoying sport or physical activity will pick up the message that this is a healthy, fun part of life. There are so many things that you can do together as a family to promote fitness and physical/mental health: walking, cycling or running together; games of rounders, cricket or softball in the park; dancing in the kitchen while you are cooking dinner; swimming and other water sports; countless other ideas! It doesn’t matter what it is - everyone likes different activities and sports - but it does matter, deeply, that you and your children find something active to enjoy.

You can see some photographs of SHC children getting active on our Galleries page here.

Five Top Tips For Exercise And Mental Health

Get outdoors as much as possible

Spending time in green space or bringing nature into your everyday life can benefit both your mental and physical wellbeing. Doing things like exercising can have lots of positive effects. It can improve your mood, reduce feelings of stress or anger and help you to feel more connected to nature.

Pick a team sport and join a club outside of school 

Find a sport your child enjoys. There are hundreds out there to choose from, so if they don’t enjoy sport then they just haven’t found the right one for them. Playing a sport as part of a team requires persistence, practice and patience with yourself and others. If exercise involves other people, like being part of a team, a class or group we see regularly, that can also boost our mental health.

Find out where the nearest Park Run is and sign up with your children 

Studies show that regular running at a moderate or vigorous pace can improve your mental health and even your memory and ability to learn. Many of your children are already capable of running the children’s 2 km park run as they are doing this in school. Your child may surprise you and want to sign up for the 5 km run.  

Sign up for an outdoor holiday club 

If your child is in Years 3 to 6 then why not get them involved in our Summer School at PACCAR? The children are given the opportunity to spend the week outdoors doing activities such as climbing, abseiling, laser tag, kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding and much more. If your child is younger, you could sign them up to a sports activity camp.

Pledge to walk part or all of the way to school 

We understand that many families need to drive to school, because your home is not a walkable distance from the school gates and/or because you need to drop your child and go directly to work or somewhere else. It is still possible to leave a little earlier, park slightly away from school (perhaps in Court Drive or another nearby road) and start your day with a short walk through or around the park to the school gates. Children - and adults - who begin their day with a walk have the opportunity to clear their minds, warm up their bodies and notice the beauty of the world around them. Why not try it?

I wish you all an active, happy weekend.

Mr. Harrington
Head of PE/Games/Co-Curriculum