mental health presentation for primary school

Talking mental health: animation & teacher toolkit

Talking Mental Health is an animation and accompanying teacher toolkit designed to help begin conversations about mental health in the classroom and beyond.

Talking Mental Health animation

The Talking Mental Health animation aims to give children an understanding of:

- what mental health is and the difference between every day small feelings and a big feeling

- consistent and accessible language to talk about mental health

- an understanding of how to be a good listener.

This animation was developed in collaboration with children.

Accompanying resources

We have developed a Teacher Toolkit for school staff to use alongside the animation which includes:

A  lesson plan

An Assembly PowerPoint

An accompanying Assembly Plan

Tips for talking for parents and carers booklet

Various resources and classroom exercises

Download the toolkit

Download the toolkit of resources to be used alongside the animation,

Talking mental health animation introduction

An introduction to the talking mental health project from our Patron, Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales.

Talking mental health: behind the scenes

See how the Schools in Mind team developed the Talking Mental Health animation and hear from teachers about why this animation is important.

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Primary Age Activities

Resources and top tips for primary schools and others who work with young people aged between 4-11.

Primary school pack

Everything you need to get your school involved in Children’s Mental Health Week 2024.

Primary assembly slides

Use these slides alongside our assembly guide (in the pack) to deliver an assembly or class session.

Feeling proud - worksheet

Use this worksheet as part of the ‘Celebrating ourselves and each other’ activity on page 9 of the primary school pack.

Letter of gratitude - worksheet

Use this worksheet as part of the ‘I know you matter, too!’ activity on page 10 of the primary school pack.

Top tips for schools

We asked children and young people what they want – and need – from their schools. Read their top tips.

Top tips for children

Primary school pupils share their tips on how children like them can look after their mental health. Created in partnership with Beano.

What matters to you? Activity for 4-11 year olds

This creative video activity encourages children to think about, and share, what matters to them.

Briefing for school staff: How well do we listen?

This slide deck will help schools consider what more they could be doing to get feedback and input from students.

Hearing the voices of those with additional needs

Advice on how to ensure all children and young people, including those with additional needs (SEND, ASN, ALN) feel that their voices matter.

Top tips for families

Advice on talking to children about their mental health, written by children and young people.

BAFTA In Conversation With - video series

BAFTA created this short film series for Children's Mental Health Week 2024 with personalities from film, TV, music and sport, to explore the theme 'My Voice Matters'.

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Reducing Mental Health Stigma in Schools

It seems that you like this template, reducing mental health stigma in schools presentation, free google slides theme, powerpoint template, and canva presentation template.

Mental health issues can affect anyone regardless of age, gender, or socio-economic status. Unfortunately, the stigma surrounding mental health problems can prevent many students from seeking the help they need. In order to reduce this stigma in schools, it is important to educate students, teachers, and staff about mental health and create a safe and supportive environment. Download our template and prepare a speech and its complementary slideshow. Be informative and thorough, and be sure to have nice slides so that everyone can follow everything that is being explained!

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• 100% editable and easy to modify
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• Includes 500+ icons and Flaticon’s extension for customizing your slides
• Designed to be used in Google Slides, Canva, and Microsoft PowerPoint
• 16:9 widescreen format suitable for all types of screens
• Includes information about fonts, colors, and credits of the resources used

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Primary School Resources

• Primary School

Check out our free Walk in My Shoes (WIMS) resources for children of primary school age.

WIMS School Supports

Our WIMS School Supports series provides sets of presentations and lesson plans designed for teachers to use in the classroom to support students with transitioning back to school under the unusual and challenging circumstances of a global pandemic .

Teachers can now download and use the classroom presentation, which is accompanied by a handout for students, and includes activities and discussion points.

The first set of the series focuses on dealing with change, and empowers students to develop coping skills and prepare for times of transition and adjustment. After the presentation, students will be able to understand the impact of change and develop ways to cope with it. From start to finish, it takes approximately 30 minutes, although additional time may be given for students to take part in the discussion point. We recommend that teachers bear their students’ personalities and circumstances in mind when using the discussion point and activity accompanying the presentation.

Dealing with Change

Dealing with Change | Primary School Support

Classroom presentation

Our classroom presentation aims to introduce  students to practical tools and skills to take care of their own mental health. Play this presentation, hosted by child and adolescent psychotherapist, Dr Colman Noctor, to hear more on  building resilience and self-worth, understanding relationships and dealing with comparison culture. There are lots of prompts for discussion and exercises which you can practice with your class also.

Supports for teachers

We know that it can be difficult to manage  mental health issues in school. We came together with the team at St Patrick's Mental Health Services to produce an educational film with tips and information that we hope primary school teachers and school staff will find helpful: click the icon to the right to play. We also produced an eBook just for primary teachers, which you can download below.

Activities for your classroom

There are lots of quick and easy activities your students can do to promote positive wellbeing and explore their mental health. 

Our Wellbeing Action Calendar, available in both English and Irish language versions, gives lots of great suggestions to get started.

Our self-care timetable, made especially for primary school students, also gives a different self-care activity that children can do in the classroom or at home each day of the week.

You'll find more wellness tools and activities below too! 

Get our wellbeing action calendars

Wellbeing action calendar.

Irish wellbeing action calendar

Get the self-care timetable

Self-care timetable.

Worry Lorry

At times, we can all feel  more anxious than usual   – but there are things that we can all do to help reduce that anxiety. Teachers, for example, can encourage students to take a few minutes for our Worry Lorry activity. To get started, you’ll need to download and print the activity sheet. Then, get your students to write down the things that worry them on the lorry. Invite them to think about the things that make them feel good or ease their   worries, and then share these things with the lorry driver. Suggest that they focus on these positive things as they colour in the rest of the sheet, and notice how their worries are driven away!

Get the Worry Lorry activity sheet here

Wellness Wall for your classroom or school hall

Wellness wall banner image.

Wellness Wall Guide | Primary School

Self-esteem and wellness activities

Selfie 'Steem Activity

Wellness Journal Primary

Mindfulness exercises

Mindfulness is a practice that helps us to recognise and accept our feelings as they come up by being present in the moment and relieving tension in our minds and bodies. We have a range of mindfulness resources which teachers can practice in class with their students, from guided exercises to mindful colouring sheets. You'll find them all below!

Get the guide for our mindfulness audio exercises

Mindfulness Audio Clips: Guide

Guided mindfulness practices

Exercise one: mindfulness of the brain.

Exercise Two: Body Scan

Exercise three: leaves on a stream, exercise four: dropping the anchor, exercise five: notice five things, exercise six: being mindful, mindfulness colouring, smile listen relax talk | mindfulness colouring.

Mind Your Selfie | Colouring Sheet

Bookmarks | Primary Level

Posters for your classroom

Fill your classroom and school spaces with messages of motivation and positivity to boost your students' moods and confidence. We have versions of a number of the posters available in English and Irish language versions. 

Always remember you rock!

Tá Tú Go Hiontach

Always remember you do you!

Déan Do Rogha Rud

Always remember be kind!

Bí Cineálta

Always remember mind your selfie!

Coimhéad Thú Féin

Always remember you've got this!

Tá Gaoth Ar Do Dhroim

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See more mental health and wellbeing videos on our YouTube channel, from classroom meditations to mental health information sessions and more.

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50 Mental Health Activities for Primary School

This is our guide to mental health activities for primary school children – including 50 of the best activities that work for teachers around the world!

Starting a new school year can be stressful for all kids, and having a mental health struggle or a mental illness can make the transition even tougher. 

Most kids will experience a mental health issue at some point in their lives – and it’s usually between the ages of 12 and 18 that these challenges arise. 

That’s why helping your child learn how to get through a rough patch , while also encouraging positive mental health habits , is a necessary challenge that parents and schools should be ready to take on.

Luckily, there are a number of kid-friendly mental health activities that could help young students develop positive mental health skills.

We spent over 6 hours researching the 50 best mental health activities that teachers find most effective with their students. They are organized in 8 categories that your classroom can focus on.

Let’s start!

1. Mental health vs. mental illness awareness activities

Yep, “mental illness” and “mental health” are two very different things that are often used interchangeably. It’s important that children learn the difference so they can better understand how they feel.

The main difference between mental health and mental illness is that mental illness is a diagnosable mental health condition such as depression, anxiety, or schizophrenia.

The good news? Mental illnesses are just as normal and important as physical illnesses, and they can be treated!

Mental health is a general term that describes a person’s state of well-being . The holistic concept of mental health can include mental well-being, physical, and social well-being.

Try these kid-friendly mental health awareness activities with your primary school students so that they can learn what it means to be healthy in both a physical AND mental way!

• Implement this free mental health lesson plan  made by Can We Talk .
• Show your young students this quick 2-minute animated video (by Susie Shep) that explains mental illness in a way that a primary school child can understand: https://youtu.be/jf13seh1_2Y 
• Show your students this animated 5-minute video on the basics of what mental health can mean for different children: https://youtu.be/DxIDKZHW3-E
• Are your students still struggling with COVID-19 and its aftereffects? Share this 2-minute animation about mental health for kids in COVID times: https://youtu.be/uDw2361nIbY
• Some of your students might have  parents who have a mental illness . In that case, this kid-friendly video could help all of your students know what that can look like and how to support their peers (I’m hoping this video could reduce bullying of kids who have parents with mental illnesses): https://youtu.be/QWiwTJGiPrk
• If even have some students who have family members with mental illnesses , it could be worth reading these great picture books to your whole class:

Pro Tip: Tell the students that this book can make them feel  big feelings  and that if anyone feels like their feelings are too big, they should tell the teacher or counselor so that the class can take a pause. 

• A Kids Book About Suicide
• A Kids Book About Addiction
• A Kids Book About Depression
• A Kids Book About Anxiety

Pro Tip: Tell the students that these books can make them feel  big feelings  and that if anyone feels like their feelings are too big, they should tell the teacher or counselor so that the class can take a pause. 

• A Kids Book About Disabilities
• A Kids Book About Adoption
• A Kids Book About Diversity
• A Kids Book About Being Inclusive
• A Kids Book About Feminism
• A Kids Book About Racism
• A Kids Book About Being Transgender
• A Kids Book About Being Non-Binary
• A Kids Book About Autism

2. Daily activities for emotion regulation

The goal of emotion regulation is to help kids regulate their emotions and feelings in an adaptive way. By helping young children develop emotional intelligence that they can rely on throughout their lives, you are helping them to handle problems in a healthy way.

But, what does this actually involve? 

Luckily, there are plenty of fun mini-activities that can help teach kids important emotion regulation skills in daily classroom life. 

The best part is, you don’t have to be a child psychologist to use them!

• Print out this free “I feel….” practice worksheet  for all of your students.
• Use these 52 puppy-themed “sentence completion” cards to help your your primary school students talk about their feelings.
• Read this amazing picture book called  A Kids Book About Emotions  and this one called A Kids Book About Optimism . They’re both part of one of my favorite children’s book series called “A Kids Book About”  which uses child-friendly explanations and illustrations to introduce complex topics to kids!
• Use this 12-minute guided mindful meditation video for kids: https://youtu.be/Bk_qU7l-fcU
• Play this “Emotion Charades” game made by a fellow teacher! It’s a free download on TeachersPayTeachers.
• Play this free “Social Emotional Bingo” game with your students!
• Print out this “Supporting Children in Uncertain Times” poster and go over it with your primary school students.
• Try breathing exercises like the Darth Vader Breath exercise to help young students ground themselves in the present-moment. It’s a fun and engaging breathing exercise that goes like this:

1. Breathe in deeply through your nose.

2. Keep your mouth closed and exhale from the back of your throat, making a “Darth Vader”-style noise as you do.

3. Show your child how to do it, then practice it with them.

• Split your class into small groups to play one of my favorite therapy games for kids – Togetherland ! This game helps kids develop emotional intelligence and strong communication skills. The game is suitable for children with ADHD and focuses on emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, confidence, and empathy.
• Read this free 2-minute meditation script .

3. Physical activities that help with mental health

Physical activities can play a big part in helping with mental health, and can help with more than just a child’s mental wellbeing. 

Climbing, in particular, has been shown to offer a host of benefits, from developing upper body strength to boosting kids’ self-confidence. 

Being able to develop these skills could boost kids’ self-esteem, and make them feel mentally and physically better.

In fact, exercising is a good way to feel in control when you are anxious or worried. Many professionals suggest that 40 minutes, 5 times a week can help you stay in great mental health! 

Here are some physical activities that teachers can use in their classroom…

• Take 3-minute dance breaks throughout the school day! Dance to some fun kid-friendly songs on YouTube or Spotify.
• Use meditation cards for kids. These ones are my favorite  because teachers and therapists use them to help kids practice mindfulness, empowerment, focus, and relaxation.
• Try out these 30 Fun Ways for Kids to Chill Out, Tune In, and Open Up ! 
• Use the colorful Yoga Pretzels card deck  to practice 50 types of fun yoga, breathing, and relaxing exercises for kids and adults!
• Try this fun and simple “Pin Wheel Breathing Exercise”. The teacher and every student should have a pin wheel for this to be most effective.

1. Sit with your backs straight and your bodies relaxed.

2. Blow on your pinwheels together using long, deep breaths. Notice how you feel—calm and relaxed? Having trouble sitting still?

3. Next, blow on your pinwheels with short, quick breaths. Notice how you feel again—do you feel the same as you did when using long, deep breaths?

4. Blow on the pinwheels as you normally would. Again, notice how you feel.

5. Think about the different types of breathing you engaged in, and discuss how the different breaths made you feel (Gelles, n.d.).

• Play the “Mindful Movement” game from Education.com. This is one of my favorite kid-friendly games that combines mindfulness and physical activity. Here are the instructions from the worksheet which you can download for free by clicking here : “Sometimes when we want to be mindful we are still. We can also be mindful when we move. Practice walking like a deer. Move slowly and deliberately, with purpose, and pay attention to where you are going. Practice pausing in stillness, as though you are camouflaged.”
• Have your students sit on the floor in a comfortable position and follow-along to this 5-minute listening game. It’s a great mindfulness activity that focuses on breathing and grounding. https://youtu.be/uUIGKhG_Vq8

4. Mental health activities to strengthen confidence and academic performance

Mental health activities that focus on strengthening confidence and academic performance are an important part of the mental health of children.

If kids have improved confidence in their progress, they will be able to develop their capabilities to enhance academic performance. 

Here are some activities that can help children strengthen their confidence and academic performance:

• Read this amazing picture book called  A Kids Book About Failure . It’s part of one of my favorite children’s book series called “A Kids Book About”  which uses child-friendly explanations and illustrations to introduce complex topics to kids!

[ image: https://share.getcloudapp.com/6qu8ponX ] 

• Read the beautifully illustrated picture book Ready to Remember: Jeremy’s Journey of Hope and Healing . It is a free PDF download on the website of the National Federation of Families here .
• Print out this free “Stress Action Plan” worksheet for all of your students so that you can help them build a plan for what to do when they get stressed or anxious about things at school.
• When your class is showing a pattern of low-confidence or stress with school, use this deck of cards with 58 kid-friendly solutions to negative thoughts and anxiety. They gives some great tips on how they can overcome their negative feelings and experiences at school.

Some activities in the next section “Activities to build self-esteem and character” could also help with confidence and overcoming failures.

5. Activities to build self-esteem and character

Positive self-esteem and character are crucial parts of a child’s mental health.

Children with healthy self-esteem and positive character could have greater self-awareness, greater social awareness, and could more likely direct their own lives rather than be led by others. 

These skills help kids be resilient, so they can develop compassion for themselves, for others, and can help them move forward in life after a setback.

• Play the card game “I Like Me 123” . It’s a game that child therapists use for kids ages 7-15 to help reduce social anxiety and build self-esteem by using humanistic psychology and a growth mindset approach. Get it here!
• Read this amazing picture book called  A Kids Book About Body Image  and this one called A Kids Book About Shame . They are part of one of my favorite children’s book series called “A Kids Book About”  which uses child-friendly explanations and illustrations to introduce complex topics to kids!
• Have your class sit on the floor in a comfortable position. Then, read them this free meditation script that is focused on building self-compassion . It’s a great meditation that guides kids through identifying a mistake or a part of your personality that you don’t feel great about. It then tells kids how to accept those feelings that come with those situations. 
• Have your young students create two collages: One collage is titled “Who I am”, and the other collage is titled “Who I want to be”. After they make their collages, ask them about why they chose the images on their collages. Then, ask them to talk to their classmates what each image means to their identity, home life, etc. (Idea adapted from PsychCentral )
• Give a blank piece of paper to all of your students and have them write “Who am I?” at the top. Then, ask your class to write down the first 20 answers to that question as quickly as possible. This is so that they don’t have time to question why they’re writing it down. Then, discuss their answers and give them time to explain why they think they wrote what they wrote. (Idea adapted from  PsychCentral )

6. Anger awareness activities for kids

Anger is an emotion we all experience on a regular basis and it can be a powerful emotion that tells us that something is bothering us.

Parents and teachers are often concerned about anger in children because they view it as a sign of potential aggression, hostility or emotional problems.

This may not always be the case!

The important thing is to recognize that anger is a universal emotion that can be a healthy part of human life, as long as it is expressed in appropriate ways.

Learning how to recognize and express anger can help children avoid destructive and harmful ways of expressing their emotions.

Here are some school hour activities that can help teach kids about anger regulation.

• Split your classroom into small groups and have them play 2 rounds of Jenga . During the first round of Jenga , allow the kids to be distracted and let their minds wander. After the first round, help your students practice calm and clear thinking through mindful breathing. Then, play the second round!
• Download this ready-made, no prep lesson plan on anger management with presentations and worksheets included! It’s made by MyleMarks – a great resource for classroom activities. 
• Play this free anger bingo game  with your class!
• Anger can be caused from situations that teachers, counselors, and schools are not aware of. These situations include sexual abuse. It’s important to make kids aware of sexual abuse so that they know when it’s happening to them and what they can do to get help. There’s a great picture book called  A Kids Book About Sexual Abuse   that is age appropriate for primary school children.

Pro Tip: Tell the students that this book can make them feel big feelings and that if anyone feels like their feelings are too big, they should tell the teacher or counselor so that the class can take a pause.

7. Depression awareness activities for kids

Depression and anxiety is more common in children and teens than you might think. Mental health conditions are common, affecting 1 in 10 children and 1 in 5 teens. 

There are many activities that are designed to raise awareness about depression.

While some of them might seem silly, or they make the people taking part in them feel uncomfortable, they are an important part of addressing depression in children. This is because simply talking about depression can be very stigmatizing, even for adults.

For kids, the problem is compounded, since many of them are surrounded by adults who may be embarrassed to admit that they struggle with depression—or they simply don’t know how to have a conversation about it.

• Read this amazing picture book called A Kids Book About Depression . It’s part of one of my favorite children’s book series called “A Kids Book About”  which uses child-friendly explanations and illustrations to introduce complex topics to kids! Pro Tip: Tell the students that this book can make them feel  big feelings  and that if anyone feels like their feelings are too big, they should tell the teacher or counselor so that the class can take a pause.

[ image: https://share.getcloudapp.com/04uAD8zB ]

• Read the picture book Hector’s Favorite Place  to help kids relate to a character that doesn’t leave home but realizes that they can to learn to be brave and try new things.
• Read this picture book called A Kids Book About Belonging  to help teach kids about loving themselves for who they are.
• Go through this kid-friendly “What Is Depression” handout made by MyleMarks – a great resource for classroom activities.

8. Anxiety disorder awareness activities for kids

Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder in the United States. A staggering 40 million adults experience anxiety on a regular basis, often without even knowing it. 

Since anxiety disorders often can be rooted in lack of mental health awareness during childhood, it’s important to be aware of the signs and symptoms of anxiety in kids. 

One way to help both adults and kids identify anxiety is by participating in activities and events that raise anxiety disorder awareness.

• Read this amazing picture book called A Kids Book About Anxiety . It’s part of one of my favorite children’s book series called “A Kids Book About”  which uses child-friendly explanations and illustrations to introduce complex topics to kids! Pro Tip: Tell the students that this book can make them feel  big feelings  and that if anyone feels like their feelings are too big, they should tell the teacher or counselor so that the class can take a pause.
• Go through this kid-friendly “What Is Anxiety” handout made by MyleMarks – a great resource for classroom activities.
• Help your primary school students change their anxious thoughts with this free printable “Changing Anxious Thoughts” worksheet !
• Have your students throw around this “Anxiety Thumball” to each other as a way to help them learn about how to cope with anxiety. 
• Use this free worksheet  to give your young students a chance to draw out their perfect “Peaceful Snapshot” that they can think of when they get anxious. 

Where Can Families Start? 

The truth is mental health is not a one-size-fits-all term, and we don’t always know what to do when we realize our kids are going through something that requires more time and attention.

So where do families begin?

One of my favorite resources is the National Alliance of Mental Illness . They are a national organization in the US that’s involved in mental health and mental illness education and research.

Families can look at their infographics here to get more involved in building positive mental health habits with your children. One of my favorite infographics for mental health in children and teens is this one here .

Download the monthly Family Activity Calendar from the National Federation of Families . They update the calendar every single month! It’s a great resource for bonding with your kids through fun and meaningful activities. You can find the download here .

[ image: https://share.getcloudapp.com/eDujpKQn ]

What are schools doing to help mental health?

Any child can suffer from mental health problems, so all schools should have a clear action plan in place for dealing with them. But does your child’s school really have what it takes to support all its pupils?  

The answer is probably maybe . Unfortunately, the quantity and quality of mental health education and resources depend on the school. 

Some schools have a curriculum that includes lesson plans on mental health and wellbeing. But some schools don’t.

Some schools also have better trained counselors and teachers – and even a designated social worker – to better prepare your young primary school students with mental health skills.

If you are in the process of looking for a primary school that has high-quality mental health and mental illness support, here’s our advice: Try looking for schools that believe students can be taught to recognize signs of mental illness and can be given resources to help them handle it.

To learn more about activities you can incorporate into your school’s curriculum , check out this “Kindness Curriculum” resource from Mindful Moments in Education .

How do you teach students about mental health?

It is recommended to teach young primary school students about the  mechanics of mental health and not the specifics. This means that giving basic explanations of “What is ___?” and “Ways to cope with ___” are good starts.

 The reason why it’s recommended not to mention specifics to young children is because they can feel big feelings that might be too overwhelming for them. That’s exactly why it’s very important that children understand that mental health exists and how to build positive mental health habits from a young age.

Kids learning the mechanics of mental health at a level of their understanding is critical for them to develop the emotional intelligence and skills to learn about the specifics when they are older.

For young students in primary school, there are plenty of fun and engaging ways to introduce mental health.

You could start with introducing children to mindfulness activities in the classroom such as guided meditations, breathing exercises, and emotion regulation activities throughout the school day.

Then, you could introduce what “mental health” and “mental illness” are (remember: mechanics NOT specifics!) with the activities mentioned above.

Bookmark this list of mental health activities for games, videos, and worksheets that you think your primary school community could benefit from.

How can schools raise awareness for mental health?

Mental health is an issue that is quickly gaining global awareness, with celebrities such as Prince Harry speaking out about his experience with mental health issues and U.S. President Barack Obama launching a campaign called “Let’s Start Talking” to encourage people to talk about their mental health.

While these efforts are great, if we want to improve public mental health, we need to start at a young age and encourage children to build positive mental health skills.

Schools can raise awareness for mental health by implementing mental health activities into daily classroom activities. This can be as simple as doing 2-minute breathing exercises together during snack times.

Use this list for inspiration on what mental health activities your primary school students could enjoy! 

Schools can also raise awareness for mental health by holding Mental Health Awareness Day events where a child therapist comes in to speak to children about mindfulness and mental health.

Primary schools could also hold regular “Mental Health Assemblies” where the entire school (or grade level) does kid-friendly yoga together, plays kid-friendly therapy games, does meditation together, or even simply watches mental health awareness videos.

Making sure that every primary school child has as much mental health support at school is the ultimate priority.

This can come in the form of accredited school therapists, dedicated mental health lesson plans, and dedicated mental health days where kids can discover and check-in on their own mental health.

Pro Tip: Tell the students that certain activities can make them feel big feelings and that if they feel like their feelings are getting too big, they can tell the teacher or counselor so that the class can take a pause. 

What is a good mental health activity?

A good mental health activity is one that makes you feel happy and relaxed.

If you find yourself getting frustrated, angry, sad, or just feeling out of sorts, you could benefit mindfulness and mental health activities.

A growing body of research finds that mindfulness (aka, “paying attention to something in the present moment”) is a powerful way to develop positive mental health habits and reach your goals.

Knowing how to be more mindful can also help you stay on track when facing challenges (like dieting or quitting smoking), and can even help you feel more at peace in everyday moments.

It’s pretty easy to get started! Here’s a great follow-along mental health activity for young children:

Can school stress cause mental illness?

The short answer: Yes, school stress can cause mental illness. But it’s a little more complicated than that.

Most of us have experienced stress and anxiety at one time or another.

However, when stress and negative feelings become overwhelming and last for a long period of time, they can take a toll on your health and well-being. This increases a student’s risk of developing a chronic mental health condition like depression or anxiety disorder.

That’s why introducing mental health activities at a young age is really important for a child’s mental health.

School environments are full of stress and pressures that students give themselves, give each other, and adults give the students. Try to give your young elementary school students the tools and skills to cope with stressful situations and negative emotions.

You can’t control everything , but what you can do is help your young students develop strong emotional resilience and coping skills so that they can better deal with their mental health as they grow older.

What percentage of students struggle with mental health?

The hard truth is this: 1 in 5 children ages 13-18 have, or will have, a serious mental illness.

You might think, “Oh, but this age range doesn’t apply to my elementary school children”.

But lack of mental wellness awareness and resources at a young age is one of the main reasons why children develop mental illnesses in their teen years.

Did you know that suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death in youth ages 10 – 24 ( source ) ?

Did you know anxiety disorders affect 1 in 8 children ( source )?

[ image: https://share.getcloudapp.com/o0u6l1YE ]

When it comes to the topic of kids and mental health, we’re often told that we need to talk about it more. 

Because the more we talk about it, the more we learn about it, and the more we learn about it, the more comfortable children will be to come forward and ask for help if they need it.  

But there are so many different ways to talk about mental health issues in children, from how to identify behavioral changes in a child, to how to help children cope with bullying, to how to get kids to open up and talk about their feelings.  

One of the best ways to get kids to open up about their mental health is to build a sense of community and connection with one another. 

I hope you can use the activities in this post to help you and your students start a positive mental health journey.

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Mentally Healthy Schools

Mentally Healthy Schools brings together quality-assured mental health resources, information & advice for schools and further education settings in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

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Blog Teaching

https://teaching.blog.gov.uk/2024/05/14/a-whole-school-approach-to-mental-health-and-wellbeing/

A whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing: Part 1

Jayne Kumi is the designated safeguarding lead and senior mental health lead at Woodmansterne School and Sixth Form, an all-through school in London. She reflects on her leadership role in the journey to implement a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing .  

Implementing a whole-school approach to mental health is a journey, rather than a task with an end point. At the beginning of the journey, I asked myself, ‘what is our vision for a whole-school approach - and how can I ensure that both senior and middle leaders buy into this vision?’

We began by setting up a trained mental health team to coordinate mental health and wellbeing activities across the school. In efforts to make mental health and wellbeing visible throughout the school, we posted images of the team in all classrooms and put a mental health display board in the foyer. Each member of the team also started wearing a specially designed T-shirt at key events with bold print on the front and back stating "Mental Health, Let's talk about it".

We operate an open-door policy for new ideas and suggestions which is essential to an effective whole-school approach that everybody feels ownership of. A recent suggestion was regarding a school therapy dog, and following consultation, we now have Pepper  in school 2-3 days per week, providing a calm, stress release experience for children.

I completed a 12-week DfE funded senior mental health training with Place2Be which gave access to invaluable resources and a chat room for networking.  There are a number of providers for the course, and I would recommend that settings seek to identify a course relevant to their needs using the Carnegie ‘select a course tool’.

Following the training, SLT undertook a mental health audit of our existing provision and the findings were presented to teaching and non-teaching staff. The audit helped identify our strengths and served as a foundation for confidence and growth and areas for development.   As a result of the training, I am more confident and proactive in in my role. I have put in place a mental health framework which provides tiered and context-based guidance for school staff on how to be involved with mental health. The framework enables staff to understand their role in promoting mental health in everyday activities, identifying potential concerns, listening and referring on.

Supporting the wellbeing of staff through the work of our staff wellbeing committee is also key. We often remind staff of the importance of ‘putting your oxygen mask on first’, to ensure they are mentally well and able to support our children. This is true of our parents and carers also; hence we work hard to engage them with resources, workshops, fairs, and an open-door policy.

Our senior leadership team have achieved so much through our continuous efforts to involve the whole school, including staff, pupils, parents and carers in our approach. This is a continuous journey, and we remain open to learning and growing as we further develop our approach.

Matthew Bradley is the headteacher and mental health lead at Newton Farm Nursery, Infant and Junior school in London. He talks about how the senior leadership team worked together to review and develop their approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing throughout the school. 

Mental health is an interesting and challenging problem for any school. It poses complex questions that we feel need to be managed by senior members of staff.

At our school, the deputy headteachers and I are senior mental health leads (SMHL). In order to better understand the issues, we undertook training through the DfE’s senior mental health lead training grant .

Following the training, we spent a day together, discussing what we had learned, and developing our strategic thinking to come up with a plan that would be understood, accepted and genuinely embedded across the school. To ensure whole school buy-in, SLT have championed efforts to promote mental health and wellbeing by promoting several core principles:

• Understanding that mental health and wellbeing are closely related and ensuring that we have early support in place to promote wellbeing.
• Making sure staff feel valued and are supported to have good mental wellbeing and that workload is manageable.
• Understanding that good mental health and wellbeing benefits everybody leading to better outcomes against our core goals such as improved attainment, attendance, and behaviour, as well as happier, more confident and resilient children and staff.

We reviewed all our mental health initiatives and increased their visibility. We made changes to common strategies:

• Staff surveys: We conduct weekly surveys which consist of one open-ended question, normally generated by staff. The results are shared in every SLT meeting. This keeps the issue of staff wellbeing “live” and changes can be implemented quickly, and transparently giving staff more agency over their wellbeing.
• Learning mentors: We reduced one to one mentoring sessions and implemented small group sessions so that we can offer support to more children. These groups, led by our SENCO and administered by teaching assistants, support children who are identified as having early signs of a wellbeing need.
• Pupil check ins: Each day the senior mental health leads pick a few children from our school register to have a brief wellbeing conversation with. Pupils are selected where there has been little prior interaction. This has resulted in us being able to identify a number of safeguarding concerns early.

The management changes we have introduced ensure that our whole school approach is understood and actively supported by staff. We maintain the profile of mental health by ensuring that some element of wellbeing is discussed in each of our weekly “All Hands” meetings. This means staff feel involved in the decision-making processes, and their concerns are understood. The investment of time and energy made by working together has resulted in a happier and more productive school - and a journey well worth engaging in for any SLT.

Fur ther reading:

• Schools and colleges can access a £1,200 Department for Education senior mental health lead training grant to help develop and implement a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing.
• Access a new resource hub to help mental health leads embed a whole school or college approach to mental health & wellbeing.
• A new targeted mental wellbeing support toolkit is also available. This provides a practical guide and filterable tool to help schools and colleges review, refresh and develop effective targeted support for pupils and learners with social, emotional and mental health needs.
• Access a recently launched resources page for teachers, parents and carers to support pupils experiencing mental health & wellbeing difficulties to attend school or college.

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Mental health in the workplace: a conversation bridging research and practice

How can we promote mental health in the workplace .

This is a question that Zhiqing (Albert) Zhou , PhD, and Lawanda Lewis are constantly asking themselves in their work, just from different perspectives. As an associate professor in the Department of Mental Health, Dr. Zhou researches how employees’ work-related experiences impact their health, well-being, and safety. As an HR Business Partner who oversees multiple academic departments at the Bloomberg School, Ms. Lewis has firsthand experience with assessing the mental health needs of employees and the effectiveness of workplace mental health and wellness programs. 

This Mental Health Awareness Month, we brought them together for a wide-ranging conversation about research, practice, program implementation, and what still needs to be learned to help workplaces manage and support the mental health of their employees.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Lawanda Lewis: Post-COVID, we’re seeing different work modalities, from fully remote work to hybrid work to a mix. Hybrid work seems to be the way of the world now. What approaches can organizations take to better promote mental wellness in a hybrid workforce?

Albert Zhou:  There is consistent evidence of the benefits of hybrid work, such as more flexibility, more autonomy, reducing commuting time, and better work-life balance. Meanwhile, there are reports of remote or hybrid workers feeling lonely or isolated, dealing with the added stress of shared spaces and family responsibilities, and feeling pressure to always appear available and present. We published a study in 2022 in the International Journal of Human Resource Management that found that workers’ mental health was negatively impacted when they felt too closely monitored by their managers.

One way to deal with this is to make sure managers are trained to prepare, support, and better communicate expectations and guidelines for hybrid and remote workers, while giving workers flexibility and more control over their time. Social and emotional support from coworkers and supervisors is also instrumental to building a healthy work life. People should be able to ask questions, connect with their colleagues, and access resources regardless of when and where they’re working. My collaborators and I are trying to understand how hybrid or remote work can be better managed so that workers can enjoy the benefits and reduce the negative consequences for their mental health.

LL: What has recent research revealed about the mental health benefits of transitioning to a four-day work week with no pay reduction?

AZ: We still need to do more research on the four-day work week, and we don’t yet have consistent solutions, even though this topic has been discussed for over 50 years. But there have been pilots and case studies in several countries that have shown evidence of increased productivity. Workers in these studies reported that they are more satisfied with their work, have better work life balance, and experience less stress and burnout. However, one issue that came up is scheduling problems. For example, I’m working for four days, but my clients are not, so how can we align our work? When we studied weekly work cycles , we found that Monday is already the most stressful day. Since working on Friday is off the table, how do I make sure too much work doesn’t pile up on Monday? 

It’s important to note that these pilot programs were tested with a small number of organizations who voluntarily participated, which means they were already open to the idea of a four-day work week. It's unclear, then, whether their practices can be generalized to other workplaces. The transition to a four-day work week may be easier for office workers, but it would be harder for people in industries where people’s work schedules are less flexible, like blue collar workers or healthcare workers. Again, more research is needed, especially with HR professionals like you, since a lot of these changes will be implemented through HR functions. You are at the front line of making sure that it works as planned, taking feedback, and continuously shaping the practice.

I’m learning a lot about HR practices, and I was wondering if you could give examples of programs you have implemented to promote workplace mental health. 

LL:  One of our most important programs is the Johns Hopkins Employee Assistance Program (JHEAP), which provides confidential counseling, resources, and referrals to employees and their families for personal and work-related issues. And we’ve implemented flexible work arrangements. Hybrid or modified hybrid schedules allow employees to meet the needs of their roles and divisions while still managing their personal and work lives. 

We also provide programs that can help employees manage their physical, emotional, social, and financial well-being, like meditation and yoga classes; premium memberships to tools that reduce stress and improve focus, like the Calm app; and the Healthy at Hopkins Wellness Initiative hub for resources and benefits.

Our leadership trainings raise awareness of mental health and unconscious bias and help supervisors recognize and manage employee stress. To reduce the stigma of talking about mental health, we regularly coach managers on how to create open dialogue with their employees about issues like stress and workloads. Through these kinds of initiatives, we want to help managers create a psychologically safe work environment. 

AZ:  Offering a variety of programs is great for addressing individuals’ different needs and creating psychologically safe relationships, while also caring about the overall work environment. Of all these different programs, what has worked well? 

LL:  Our Employee Assistance Program has evolved over the years. The University has been good at adapting it as work set-ups change and employee needs change, so that flexibility has led to a lot of reinventions over the years. Being flexible with our employees’ work arrangements has also worked really well. Everyone is dealing with day-to-day issues and unpredictable situations, so we want managers to balance knowing what needs to be done with caring for their employees. 

JHU’s supervisor trainings have helped managers lead fairly, create open communication, and provide timely feedback so that employees always know where they stand. We also think it’s important to show employees appreciation and recognition for their hard work.

AZ:  Definitely. We’ve seen in research that lack of recognition negatively affects productivity, performance, and mental well-being. It’s always good to see appreciation and recognition coming from the top down. Are there other workplace mental health topics that HR professionals like you are interested in right now?

LL:  I'm interested in learning more about efforts to reduce stigma and promote open dialogue, especially when it comes to relationships between supervisors and their subordinates. What should organizations look out for when managing that relationship?

AZ:  That's a great question because supervisors play an important role in employee mental health. From the research perspective, we develop specific, reliable, and valid measures to assess supervisor behaviors. The commonly used approach is asking workers to answer questions about the frequency of certain supervisor behaviors, such as rudeness or inattention. Those kinds of behaviors are subtle and sometimes low intensity but can affect people’s well-being if experienced regularly.

It's important to note that sometimes employees’ perceptions might not correspond to the actual behavior of the supervisor. The supervisor might not intentionally be rude, but their behaviors can still be perceived as rudeness or incivility. That's why when we study supervisor behaviors, it's important to calibrate across multiple direct reports of the same supervisor. That's an indication of a pattern of behavior and that action needs to be taken in terms of interventions or training. So, I think it’s important for organizations to continuously gather employees’ perceptions and combine data from multiple sources to get a more accurate reflection of supervisor behaviors. To prevent incivility in the workplace, it's important to build an environment where people are aware of their behavior and are mindful of their impact and talk about mental health.

LL:  Reducing mental health stigma is a major theme. We want to raise awareness of resources and make sure that people get the support they need. But when we start talking about illnesses, we start to trickle into the lines of protected health information and figuring out how to handle that information. We have an office that supports employees who need accommodations, but we are still learning. 

AZ: It’s great that HR is thinking about and prioritizing workplace mental health because that’s not the case everywhere. The research on workplace mental health is also still evolving. I’m doing a review piece with a student about disclosure of mental health conditions and how we can foster more open communication so support can be provided. But there’s still a long way to go. As a researcher, I want to keep providing evidence to help teams like yours who are doing actual implementation and supporting employee health and well-being. 

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Lenovo Powers AI Avatars to Explore the Role of Technology in Mental Health

• Groundbreaking social experiment uses AI powered by Lenovo to raise awareness of Gen Zs’ loneliness and anxiety exacerbated by big differences in their real and online lives.
• New Lenovo research finds 60% of Gen Z respondents wish they could have difficult conversations with family in real life.
• Almost half (48%) say talking to a trained professional would give them the confidence to talk more openly with the people they love in the real world.
• Lenovo partners with mental health non-profit organizations in the US, UK, and Japan to expand access to 24/7 mental health support for young people.

May 29, 2024 – Today, Lenovo ™ released the newest iteration of its Work For Humankind project, titled ‘Meet Your Digital Self’. The project highlights the role that smarter technology and AI can play in helping to advance change and support mental health professionals in addressing the global youth mental health crisis. This work aims to address the challenges young people face when living different lives in the real world versus online, as two-thirds (67%) of Gen Z feel a disconnect between their online and offline selves, fuelling feelings of loneliness and anxiety. While almost half (49%) of Gen Zs say it’s easier to express themselves online than offline, 60% wish they could have difficult conversations with family and loved ones in real life.

Sarah Kendrick, Clinical Director at Mental Health Innovations, the charity running the UK’s Shout 24/7 text support service said, “One in eight people globally grapple with a mental health condition, with Gen Z experiencing the greatest impact, where that figure rises to one in five. The type of AI innovation in Lenovo’s ‘Meet Your Digital Self’ social experiment shows promise as a way in which generations with different understandings of online personas can meet and understand each other.”

In this first-of-its-kind social experiment, Lenovo pioneered the use of AI made possible by its broad portfolio of technology, from mobile phones and PCs to infrastructure, software, services, solutions, and cloud. The combined technology brought to life the entire online personas of two Gen Z project participants as lifelike avatars capable of having unscripted, natural conversation.

The experiment facilitated impactful, heartfelt conversations between the participants, their family members, and the avatars – conversations that might not have happened otherwise, in real life. The family members either didn’t know about their Gen Z participant’s online world or didn’t understand and accept it: be it their career choices or gender identity. By asking the digital avatars questions and having real-time conversations, each family member gained invaluable insights into their Gen Z loved one’s true self as expressed in the online world and were able to better understand and reconnect in real life. The project is a pioneering proof of concept demonstrating the positive impact technology can have in advancing positive change in the youth mental health epidemic, which has been worsened by their struggle to balance two distinct online and offline identities.

The 3D avatars not only resembled each participant but were built to be able to respond to real-time conversation – adjusting their tones, movements, and facial expressions based on the discussion. To do that the avatars were trained on data that came directly from each participant’s online persona.

According to new research from Lenovo, almost half (48%) of Gen Zs say talking to a trained professional would give them the confidence to talk more openly with the people they love in the real world.

In an effort to expand mental health support and resources for people in need, Lenovo has partnered with several organizations, such as Shout , a free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging service based in the UK; Crisis Text Line , a non-profit organization that provides free, 24/7 confidential text-based mental health support in both English and Spanish for anyone in the US and Puerto Rico; and Anata no Ibasho in Japan. These organizations train real people who are then supervised by mental health professional staff, offering support to millions in need.

The digital versions of the two Gen Z participants were created by weaving together data from across their social media, blog, and forum handles securely with their consent. The data was trained and tested, and the project designed and brought to life with Lenovo devices, services, software, servers, and cloud solutions. This is the first time ever that Lenovo solutions have come together to develop an avatar of this kind. Devices and solutions include Lenovo ThinkStation™ workstations; ThinkCentre™ desktop computers; Lenovo Legion™, ThinkBook™ and Yoga™ laptops; Lenovo tablets; ThinkVision™ monitors and accessories; motorola razr smartphones; ThinkEdge™ SE450 Edge Server; AI Professional Services and Lenovo | Dropbox Cloud Storage.

“Technology can become the bridge that shortens distances, making powerful human-to-human connection faster and more accessible to people in moments of need,” said Dr. Shairi Turner, Chief Health Officer at Crisis Text Line . “Whether someone is in a classroom, at a family event, or lying awake at night, the power of a text conversation with another human offers solace in anonymity and compassion without judgement. It is truly brave to reach out for support.”

Crisis Text Line reports that more than 70% of its texters are under the age of 25. Its text-based service helps people of all ages but was specifically created for young people allowing for on-demand support through text message.

Anyone who sees themselves in these films, struggling to reconcile their online and offline identities and more deeply connect with their friends and family, or who simply needs advice on how to reach out to someone close to them, can reach out for support by messaging Shout (UK), Crisis Text Line (US), or Anata no Ibasho (Japan).

“We recognize the importance of achieving a healthy digital balance for our overall mental wellbeing,” commented Emily Ketchen, global vice president and CMO of Intelligent Devices Group and International Markets at Lenovo. “With huge advancements in AI and smarter technologies, now is the time to explore and pilot creative new ways to use technology like AI thoughtfully and responsibly, for the greater good. Lenovo is uniquely positioned to lead here thanks to having one of the industry’s broadest portfolios of smarter technology—from AI devices to IT solutions—that can work seamlessly together to benefit our society and the next generation. Ultimately, we hope that through our ‘Meet Your Digital Self’ social experiment we can spark meaningful conversations that contribute to the mental wellbeing of individuals and communities worldwide.”

Chinatsu Hoashi, Gen Z participant from Japan comments: “Taking part in the ‘Meet Your Digital Self’ social experiment has definitely helped strengthen relationships with my family. By using technology and AI, I was able to open up more and convey what I always wanted them know. This has had a positive impact on my mental health, as I can finally express feelings I have been avoiding telling people because I was too embarrassed.” 

Oscar Jackson-Walsh, Gen Z participant from UK comments : “Taking part in this social experiment has helped me to become more confident and bridge the gap between myself and my online persona. It has also enabled me to have more open conversations with my family around my identity, which has not only made me feel more loved and accepted than ever before, but also less alone and anxious in a family space.”

Watch the ‘Meet Your Digital Self’ videos here:

• The Evolution of Work For Humankind:  https://youtu.be/X-r74EHhudw
• Meet Your Digital Self, Chinatsu | Work For Humankind:  https://youtu.be/fNHIJFfGvHc
• Meet Your Digital Self, Oscar | Work For Humankind:  https://youtu.be/RAPN71vErUQ

Lenovo powers Lenovo