Kingdom staff receive mental health tips from primary school children

Members of Kingdom Housing Association’s management team, employee forum and health & wellbeing ambassadors have been treated to a lesson in emotional wellbeing by pupils from a local school.

Kingdom staff receive mental health tips from primary school children

Turning the tables it was the children teaching the adults when pupils from North Queensferry Primary School shared their insights into mental health and emotional resilience in a video which they recorded, edited and produced themselves before breaking off for the Summer holidays.

“Creating coping cards was the starting point for this project in the classroom,” class teacher Ellen Hales said. “I’m a big advocate for mental health and recognised that our learners needed a lift after all they had been through during the pandemic. Feeling anxious or stressed can happen to anyone of any age at any time, so being well equipped to deal with it makes a big difference.”

Getting fresh air, spending time with family and friends, making uplifting playlists, colouring in, playing board games and getting creative with Play-Doh were just some of the strategies the children shared with the staff at Kingdom as they encouraged the adults to be more aware of how they are feeling.

Lee Waugh, headteacher at North Queensferry Primary School, said: “The children really enjoyed sharing their learning and work with the adults at Kingdom. It’s something that they wouldn’t typically have the opportunity to do and they were excited at the chance to be involved. Being able to recognise when they’re feeling low and when they’re needing help is really important for the children and this work has had a really positive impact on their learning.”

Bill Banks, Kingdom Group chief executive, added: “It was an absolute treat to watch the video that the pupils from North Queensferry Primary School produced. As adults we can learn a lot from the coping strategies they explained to us. We’re really keen to share some of the ideas and insights we heard about and we’ve got plans to develop a support pack for our staff and our tenants illustrated by the children themselves.”

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