Felsted School has opened its new wellbeing centre, the first in-school facility of its type in the country.
The centre was officially opened at a ceremony attended by parents, pupils and staff last weekend by Dr Simon Walker and his wife Dr Jo Walker, who have helped develop AS tracking as a means to help identify and mitigate mental health problems in young people.
The school uses a range of strategies to support students, including creative therapies such as art, sand play or play therapy. It also offers traditional talking therapy for those who want somebody to talk things through with.
Chris Townsend, headmaster at Felsted School, said: “Our new wellbeing centre puts pupil wellbeing at the heart of everything we do and we have long had a range of strategies to help pupils negotiate the pressures of growing up and being adolescent in the changing modern world.
“We want to support our pupils to become well-adjusted young people who are happy; happy in themselves, happy in their relationships with one another, and happy with who they are, ready to go out and face the world – and that is why wellbeing matters at Felsted.”
The opening included an address by Simon on his company’s work with schools to understand how mental health can affect young people and the best ways to help. The community also heard testimonials from students on their positive experiences of the centre so far.
One upper sixth student commented: “After a stressful period involving Oxbridge decisions and IB mocks, I suddenly found I was crippled with anxiety about the future. After chatting with my housemistress, I met a counsellor at school and found that after just two sessions discussing how I felt, I was able to uncover new strategies to help me move past those difficulties.”
Dr Simon Walker, a former Felsted pupil, added: “Felsted’s wellbeing centre is a visible sign for pupils, parents and staff alike that emotional & social development is as important as academic development. Judging by the way pupils we met had already learned to reflect on their own journey, it’s clearly a signpost which is already being followed.”