Mental Health Awareness Week 2025: A Celebration of Community

A joyful celebration of kindness, gratitude, and connection, bringing students and staff together through creative activities, uplifting messages, and a powerful sense of community.

What a truly uplifting week it was! Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 brought warmth, colour, and connection to Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School. With the national theme “Community,” we focused on kindness, gratitude, and coming together – and our whole school community responded with heart.

At the centre of it all was our “We Are Stronger Together” display in the canteen. Students and staff filled the space with vibrant messages of thanks, encouragement, and recognition for one another. Whether it was a kind note to a friend, a teacher, or someone behind the scenes – every message mattered. By the end of the week, the display had grown into a powerful wall of appreciation, reminding us all that community is built on small acts of kindness. The display will stay up until the end of next week to give everyone a chance to add their voice.

Form time was another highlight, with activities focused on gratitude and connection. The Kindness Chain activity was especially popular, as forms created beautiful chains of uplifting messages, looped together to symbolise unity and care. Staff have been capturing photos and videos of their chains, which will be used to create a school-wide montage celebrating this collective effort.

Our lunchtime wellbeing activities offered moments of creativity and calm throughout the week. From chalk art and nature journalling to mindful meditation and colouring with calming music, students had the opportunity to pause, reflect, and simply enjoy the moment. These drop-in sessions were peaceful, positive, and beautifully attended – a huge thank you to all staff who supported them.

Meanwhile, the Wellbeing Bingo Challenges brought out our fun and competitive side: – Students completed a range of wellbeing challenges – from acts of kindness to mindful moments – with House Points to win. – Staff took on their own bingo boards, with tasks designed to encourage self-care and connection. Last year we had two – who will it be this year?

Staff wellbeing was front and centre too. Thanks to the fantastic team from Oaklands College, massage therapy students joined us on Friday to deliver relaxing staff massages. The session was fully booked – and as always, staff rallied around to support one another with cover and flexibility. A perfect example of what school community looks like.

Whether it was writing a note of appreciation, joining in lunchtime mindfulness, or helping a colleague, the spirit of Mental Health Awareness Week could be felt in every corner of the school.

As Mental Health Lead, I am incredibly proud of how our students and staff embraced the theme of community. Your kindness, energy and openness made this week more than just a celebration – it became a reminder that we are stronger, healthier, and happier when we lift each other up.

Miss Rajdev