
Children’s Mental Health Week
1-7 February 2021
According to Place2Be, a children’s mental health charity that provides counselling and mental health support in UK schools, around three children in every primary school class have a mental health problem, and many more struggle with challenges from bullying to bereavement.
Place2Be launched the first ever Children’s Mental Health Week in 2015 to shine a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health. Now in its seventh year, they hope to encourage more people than ever to get involved and spread the word – we wanted to get on board and bring a God-context to these issues too.
This year’s theme is ‘Express Yourself’ and is about helping children to find ways to share their feelings, thoughts, or ideas through creativity. This could be through art, music, writing and poetry, dance and drama, photography and film, and doing activities that make them feel good. This is not about being the best at something or putting on a performance for others. It is about helping children to find a way to show who they are, and how they see the world, that can help them feel good about themselves.
Share this video link with your pupils if they are at home:
https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/children-mental-health-week/
Or embed the video in your school website using this Embed Code.
How to Lead
To make it really easy for you to share with the children in your care, this special time of prayer is in the form of a video. Just gather children together, or share for children to watch online.
The video:
Helps children know that not only do they have special people around them who they can and should share their feelings with; they have a friend in Jesus, who is always listening and always loving.
Has moments to pause for reflection, where the music keeps playing.
Introduces the idea of looking after our mental health through creative expression.
Acknowledges the difficult time that everyone is having at the moment, but are getting through with love, kindness and generosity.
Explains that as we are made in the image of our creator God, expressing ourselves creatively is innate.
Challenges pupils to plan their own creative outlets.