Pupils from years 5 and 6 at Parks Primary school in Leicester took part in a range of workshops on Tuesday 14 June as part of a ‘Get Happy, Get Healthy’ day organised by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT).
The workshops were designed to help children understand the link between their physical and mental health and to explore positive ways of dealing with thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
Children were able to consider what different emotions look like in others, to learn techniques to cope with anxiety, and to understand how the body responds to stressful or risky situations.
They worked together to identify their own personal qualities and existing skills, and to consider how they could use these to support the wider school community.
Parks Primary’s school nurse, Zoë Dann, was on hand to run a ‘sugar swap challenge’, designed to encourage children to think about the amount of sugar hidden in a range of snacks and drinks, and to consider healthier alternatives.
At lunchtime, pupils helped to launch the Move it Boom Rio Summer Sports Jam, LPT’s summer activity challenge for kids, which is being supported by Leicester-Shire and Rutland Sport (LRS), Leicester City Football Club and Leicestershire County Cricket Club (LCCC), as well as Loughborough University and the Healthy Schools programme.
Steve Franklin and Martyn Dobson from LCCC’s coaching team helped the children – not to mention LRS mascot Leo the Lion – to get active and develop their cricketing skills, and to encourage them to sign up to the Move it Boom interactive sporting challenge at LPT’s Health for Kids website (www.healthforkids.co.uk/moveitboom) for a chance to win a range of exciting sporting prizes.
Rob Melling, Head of Community Development at LPT said: “We are committed to local people leading health improvements in communities. We believe that children and adults have the skills, knowledge and experiences to create amazing activities that improve health and form a network of support for each other within local neighbourhoods.
“It’s been brilliant for us to have the opportunity to work with Parks Primary School to offer our knowledge and support to embed healthy lifestyle choices and build on collective strengths and interests to help create resilient local communities.”
Caroline Evans, Headteacher at Parks Primary said: “The children really engaged with the content of the workshops, and had a safe environment in which to make sense of the emotions they experience themselves or see others around them experiencing and to develop strategies to respond to them.
“I know many of them are now really excited to participate in the Move it Boom Rio Summer Sports Jam, which will help Parks Primary to gain enhanced Healthy Schools accreditation.”
