Celebrating Children's Mental Health Week

At Enjoy Education, we know that every student works best when they’re in the best headspace to learn.

We’re delighted to partner with Happy Space, who have provided us with their top tips and resources from their five pillars of mental wellbeing, alongside our own ‘Learning’ pillar.

Mind Pillar

What are you grateful for?

Gratitude can help to enhance emotions like joy, love and contentment and research shows that this can help reduce negative feelings. Try jotting down the things that you are grateful for, however big or small, in the gratitude jar. Download the jar here!

Finance Pillar

Do you know the answers to these five important finance questions?

Evidence shows that money problems often lead to stress, anxiety and other mental health issues. Gaining an understanding of the finance basics from the get go can help you to make better money decisions in the long run.

1. What are banks for? Banks store and lend money all over the world. Banks are the safest places we can keep our money, because most of the money is stored digitally on computers rather than as cash, and there are lots of layers of security to protect it. There are two main types of accounts: 1) a current account, where you can keep your everyday spending money and 2) a savings account, where you keep your money that you want to keep for later.

2. What is saving? Saving money means putting it to one side for spending in the future. We call this money ‘our savings’. Usually, people save up so they can buy something in the future or for a big future event, like going to university or buying a car. It’s also helpful to ‘save for a rainy day’, meaning, saving for the unexpected! That way, if we suddenly need money for any reason, we can rely on our savings.

3. How does interest work? Our savings are valuable to the bank so they pay us money to say ‘thank you’. The money the bank pays us is called interest and it is a small percentage of the money we have in our account with the bank. The percentage the bank pays us is called an “interest rate”and the higher that percentage is, the more money you will earn. So, if you have £100 saved and the bank pays you 2% interest, you would earn £2 over a year. This might not seem like much, but the more you save, the more interest you earn. If you had £20,000 pounds in the bank, you would earn £400 in interest in a year!

4. How do taxes work? Ever wondered who pays for the police, for rubbish collection, or for the NHS? Well, everyone that has a job and gets paid does! Everyone that has a job and receives payment adds to a big pot of money that the government can use and that pot is called “Tax”. For example, a lawyer that earns £70,000 a year will receive around £50,000 and the remaining £20,000 goes to the government in tax. People also pay tax on the interest they earn on their savings.

5. What is an ISA and is it different to a JISA? An ISA is an “Individual Savings Account”. It works just like normal savings account, except you can only put £20,000 into an ISA every year, and you don’t have to pay tax on the interest you make from these savings. A JISA is a “Junior Individual Savings Account” and is for anyone under the age of 18. A parent or guardian can open a JISA on behalf of the young person, and will manage it on the young person’s behalf until they turn 16 or 18, depending on the JISA provider. The JISA allowance for 21/22 is £9,000.

Food Pillar

There are a lot of tips about what to eat the day of an exam, but what about the day before?

Even if you’re nervous, try to eat regularly throughout the day prior to an exam, finishing off with a full meal including protein, carbohydrates and vegetables. A full day of wholesome nourishment can help brain function the following day, increasing both energy levels and focus.

Body Pillar

Top tips for better sleep

Most people know firsthand that sleep affects their mental state. After all, there’s a reason it’s said that someone in a bad mood “woke up on the wrong side of the bed”! Evidence to date shows that poor sleep can be a contributing factor to the initiation and worsening of mental health issues.

Our top three tips to improve sleep are:

1. Pay attention to your temperature! In order to fall asleep, your core temperature needs to be able to drop by a couple of degrees. Try to keep your bedroom fairly cool. You could close the blinds during the day, or crack open a window in the afternoon. Having a hot bath / shower 1-2 hours before bed helps create the drop in temperature too.

2. Routine, routine, routine. Try to keep regular sleep and wake times (even on the weekend if you can). This helps to keep your body clock in a regular pattern.

3. Declutter. Did you know that tidying your bedroom can result in significantly improved sleep quality? Pop trinkets like change, keys and jewellery in a tray or box, identify what doesn’t belong in your room, like a used mug or dirty clothes, and deliver them to their respective homes and try to keep only what’s essential for bedtime on your nightstand: water, glasses, a book or two.

Arts Pillar

Mindful drawing and doodling can be used as a brilliant way to relax, re-centre and get back into a creative frame of mind.

Print off this meditative colouring exercise and see for yourself!

Learning Pillar

Research shows that continued learning helps to boost self-confidence, build self-esteem and nurture connections with others. We know that children can stay healthy with their education in the following ways:

1. Get organised: Create healthy and structured routines with plenty of time for breaks built in! Before you sit down to work, make sure you have everything you need to complete your task effectively. Read more about how to put yourself in the right mindset for success here.

2. Build your team: You don’t need to struggle alone! Seeking help from family, friends, or specialist tutors can make all the difference to helping you feel confident in your studies.

3. Stay screen healthy: While technology can be very useful, there can be too much of a good thing! If you’re finding that you’re distracted by your phone or laptop while studying, try putting them in another room until you’ve completed your task or reached an important goal. We also know it’s best to reduce use of technology before bed, so why not pick up that book instead!

4. Try something new: Exploring a new activity or learning about something new is a great way to boost your confidence and wellbeing. Why not challenge yourself to learn a new skill?