Wonderful Well-Being Days - the what, the why, the when and...some considerations and tips

📽️ Watch the video of this blog.

One of the things that I love offering to schools is well-being days, they fit nicely into the school calendar for many different times of the year and can be a rewarding way of giving lots of children an unforgettable experience.
They can also be an opportunity for a school to get to know you, which may lead to more work within that school or setting.
 
What is a well-being day?
A well being day is usually a full school day where each class gets the opportunity to have a well-being lesson. It is usually connected to a theme or event that is happening in school, nationally or globally.
 
When are good times to offer them?
There are so many great times for schools to benefit from a well-being day, here are just a few suggestions:
Children’s Mental Health Week 5th – 11th February.
Emotional Health Week 19th – 23rd February.
Stress Awareness Month April.
World Health Day April 7th.
Mental Health Awareness Week 13th – 19th May.
Global Wellness Day 8th June.
National Sports Week 17th – 23rd June.
World Well-Being Week 26th – 30th June.
World Mental Health Day 10th October.
Stress Awareness Month November.
Anti- Bullying Week 11th – 17th November.
 
Schools often have their own health or well-being weeks too, so it is definitely worth contacting schools and letting them know that this is a service that you provide.

How do I structure one?
To create a plan for a well-being day, you will need to know:

• How many classes are going to participate.
• What the timings are of the day- start time, break times, lunchtime and home time, these timings may vary for different year groups.
• Where you will be delivering the lessons.
• Whether the space will be used for other purposes that day.

Some schools are happy to create a plan for you to work to, others appreciate you organising this yourself.

As there are likely to be lots of classes to teach in one day, it is likely that the timings will be quite short for the lessons. In my experience, these timings have worked well:
Nursery and reception: 15 – 20 minutes
Key stage one (years 1 and 2): 25 – 30 minutes
Lower key stage two (years 3 and 4): 30 – 45 minutes
Upper key stage two (years 5 and 6): 30 minutes – 1 hour
Obviously, the time that you have will depend on how many classes need to be taught.
 
Tips for making well-being days manageable:

• It sounds obvious, but make sure that you have your documents with you when you arrive at the school. Not sure what you need? Get the free checklist here. Save time and use the documents that I have already created for you available here.
• Make sure that you arrive in plenty of time to set up- it always takes longer for me to set up in a new environment.
• Have the plan with timings and year groups next to you for quick reference.
• Your energy is the most important thing! Make sure that you have enough snacks, drinks and some time in the day to rest. Also, join in with breathing practices where possible to ensure that you are regulated.
• Don’t over complicate things! Keep it nice and simple by using the same props for each year group.
• As this is a one- off, you probably don’t need a different lesson plan for every year group. I would plan one for each phase.
• Have a clear structure for your lessons, you may find this training useful for this
• Don’t be surprised if schools don’t stick to the timings!
• Use the opportunity to leverage other offers that you have, for example share fliers about community classes or events that you are running, share information with the school about other services that you offer or add on a session for teachers afterwards (obviously only deliver what you are insured to teach).

I hope that you found that helpful :)

Next steps:
 🎁Get booked on to my training 'Props like a Pro' before 2nd of February, and receive    the training 'Structure for Success' absolutely free!
⬇️ Download the documents checklist so you have everything you need.
📃 Save yourself some time by buying the document bundle!
🧠 Check out the training ‘Structure for Success’ to make sure that you lessons are perfectly planned!
 
x Julia