This week, we’ve had a school-wide focus on wellbeing and mental health to promote a positive start to 2026 with our own BGS Mental Health Awareness Week.
Led by our BGS Wellbeing Assistant Heads from across the school, the week has been interspersed with opportunities for all pupils from Reception through to Sixth Form to learn and develop life skills that support our mental health. The Mental Health toolkit we are focusing on this week will help to enable the whole community adopt a calm and more resilient approach to the challenges we might encounter in life generally.
Our Infants and Juniors kicked the week off with a 'pop of colour' to brighten everyone's spirits and then across the week, form time and assemblies have provided the perfect opportunity to discuss and practice useful tools and techniques for managing stress and emotions.
Aruna Gunawardana, Assistant Head (Wellbeing) BGS Senior School explained;
“Our community’s wellbeing is a year-round priority at BGS. By focusing on Mental Health in a more practical way this week, however, we have been able to learn and practice a selection of emotional grounding tools with our pupils that should help them in times of stress and distress.
“We hope that by embedding the use of an internal mental health toolkit, our young people will become more resourceful during tough times and, in turn, become better equipped to navigate the challenges of today’s fast-paced world. Once learnt, these tools can be used independently when our pupils need them most. It won’t just be this week that pupils will be encouraged to use them, they will be reminded of them throughout their time at BGS and will also be used by staff with them at appropriate times and in various settings.”
Alongside this school-wide mental health focus, our BGS Peer Mentors’ training scheme is also well underway for the next cohort of selected Lower Sixth students ahead of them officially taking on the role.
Aruna continued, “Peer mentors play an important role in supporting their fellow pupils throughout their time at BGS. Mentoring by peers is a unique way of offering support to pupils that sits below the level of counselling but adopts various associated therapeutic skills. The opportunity of being a Peer Mentor is an exciting one! We hope the challenges and impact students can have in the support of others will be as fulfilling as it is for those of us staff who support pupils. It's certainly a rewarding experience, and one that offers the opportunity and privilege to positively impact the lives of others.”
As part of this programme, and for the first time since it was introduced, Peer Mentors have also qualified as Youth Mental Health First Aiders with the completion of a two-day training course with Mental Health First Aid England. They are now certified for three years and have gained valuable knowledge, awareness, and skills to spot the signs of a young person experiencing poor mental health, the confidence to start a conversation, and the tools to safeguard and signpost effectively.
Rozi, Lower Sixth student and one of the new Peer Mentors said; “I was keen to become a Youth Mental Health First Aider as this is an important life skill, both in and outside of the school setting. This course was informative, and even though there was some challenging content, it was insightful into topics I had little previous knowledge of. I feel more confident in supporting and working with young people who may be experiencing poor mental health.”
Isla, Lower Sixth student and another of our new Peer Mentors added; “Having peer mentors in school is so important because it helps create a supportive environment where students feel comfortable asking for help. I wanted to get involved with the programme because the course was intriguing and made engaging by Mr Gunawardana, and because I would like to be there for others when they need support.”
Our BGS Wellbeing team deliver a range of ongoing projects, programmes and initiatives throughout the year to help ensure wellness is embedded into everyday life here at BGS. We have a dedicated team that focuses on the mental wellbeing of our pupils, helping to support the development of life skills, emotional wellbeing and positive mental health all year round.