Larkmead school’s annual ‘Make a Difference’ (MAD) Week takes place every July and offers Year 12 students (6th formers) a chance to work on a project with a local charity, group or not for profit organisation. We were thrilled to be one of the local charities taking part this year with our Toolkit for Happiness workshops and in this blog our Workshop Coordinator, Taz takes us through the week.

We began our week by introducing our new Toolkit for Happiness workshops to a group of 18 enthusiastic Year 12s, who would then, in turn, run these workshops with the school’s (around) 150 Year 7s. The Toolkit is designed to promote and support children’s wellbeing and happiness by offering a range of ideas and resources that teachers can use with children or that children can use independently.

“Being outside in nature and not stuck inside can make you feel better.” Year 12 pupil.

Nature workshop – our first workshop saw us outside, exploring nature and focusing on the small but wonderful things in our environment.  Students made seed bombs and started to grow runner beans. Once the year 12s had experienced the workshop they then ran it with the year 7s in the afternoon with each member of the group taking on a different role – some presenting, some preparing resources and others helping pupils with the activities in small groups.

“It took my mind off things as I had fun with my friends.” Year 7 pupil.

Physical exercise – Tuesday’s workshop got us moving! We used balls, timers, ropes, chalk and more to make up games, set ourselves goals to beat and generally get exercising.  The pupils made exercise cubes/dice which they could use to boost their mood through physical exercise anytime they needed to.

Some of us also had a little dance – but whether dancing, watching or just listening to the music there were a lot smiles which certainly boosted our wellbeing.

 “I was stressed when I came here and this has calmed me down”. Year 7 pupil.

‘Acts of Kindness’ – in our next workshop we made Kindness vouchers to give to our friends and family and talked about how we feel when we are kind to someone and when we are treated kindly.

Our activities for this workshop were to make a loom band for a friend and a thank you card for someone. This got the room buzzing with excitement as students were very keen to both make and give! 

“I have something to make me happy when I am sad” Year 7 pupil

Creativity Workshop – this workshop involved creative games and some wonderful making. We used natural materials such as shells, fresh herbs, feathers and gems to make some fun and fantastic art pieces. We also made a fortune teller to help give us ideas for things we could do to help our wellbeing and boost our mood.

Feedback from Year 7s and Year 12s was that this workshop was fun, mindful, calming and satisfying.

“This was comforting and calm.” Year 7 pupil.

‘Reflection and Relaxation’ – our aptly named final workshop on Friday was a time for everyone to pause and unwind, think about things they had enjoyed, relax and make a squeezy ball to squeeze when they are feeling stressed.

The workshops were received and delivered brilliantly with so many students benefiting from the activities and ending the week well-equipped to help both themselves and others to improve their sense of wellbeing.  Nicola and I thoroughly enjoyed working with the pupils during our time at Larkmead school and are looking forward to working with some of the Year 12 volunteers again when we offer our Toolkit for Happiness to year 6 pupils in primary schools later in the school year.