Dauntsey’s Focuses on Wellbeing

Last week marked Wellbeing Week at Dauntsey’s. World Wellbeing Week is a yearly campaign run by Wellbeing World and aims to raise awareness of wellbeing and explain why it matters. The School used the mnemonic MAGIC, developed by the NHS, to encourage pupils and staff to focus on five factors which play a key role in achieving a sense of wellbeing.

Mindful – take notice. Take time to reflect and be aware of your surroundings. Notice what you are thinking and be aware of what is going on around you.

Active – take physical exercise. Go for a walk or a run, try a new sport or game.

Generous – find ways to give. Do something for a friend, help at home, organise an activity to raise money for charity

Interested – keep learning. Set yourself a goal, learn a new word or random fact, read a new book, research a new topic that interests you, or just ask some questions to find out more about something

Connected – reach out to others. Try to connect with people around you, spend time with your friends and try to make new friends. Try using different ways to communicate

Through Wellbeing Week the School ran a range of activities, each one linked to one of these five focus areas. For example:

Mindful – pupils and staff could enter a whole school photography competition on the theme ‘The World Around Us’
Active – activity sessions were held each morning before lessons to get people up and ready for the day
Generous – there was a Tinned Food Donation Collection for the local Food Bank
Interested – as well as various year group trips, the Modern Foreign Languages department explored healthy eating and the pressures of social media while the Latin department asked the First Form to research Ancient wellbeing. There was also the official opening of the Lower School Boarding Vegetable Patch, created to encourage younger pupils to learn about growing their own food
Connected – the Music department ran mini-musical performances and the English department challenged pupils to write about one of the “Five Ways to Wellbeing” and using the “Emotion Wheel” to identify advanced language to describe emotions.

Greg James, Mental Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinator at Dauntsey’s, said:

“We are lucky to be located in such a beautiful part of the country; there is a lot of evidence supporting the mental health benefits of being outside and connecting with nature.

“We also have some wonderful facilities – it was great to see everyone getting involved in some of the activities being organised last week and taking time to think about their own wellbeing.”

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