Our apologies for the delay in putting this news report online...
At the start of October, in spite of waking up to torrential rain (which, thankfully, made way for lovely sunshine later in the day), the Bishop Luffa Community were set for a day of fundraising and activities surrounding our Wellbeing. The day involved a range of activities which were aimed at raising our awareness of what it takes to thrive here at Bishop Luffa.
There are six elements of thrive which our wellbeing strategy focusses on:
- Talking
- Help
- Rest and recovery
- Insight
- Values
- Exercise
The walk itself – a 10k loop from school to Lavant Green and back – more than covered the Exercise! For some students, this was a real challenge too. We are so proud of everyone for taking part as a school community. As well as our walkers, we had a group of staff and student runners who left ahead of the walking groups to complete the distance a little more rapidly than the rest of us! One student, Harvey McGuinness in 11 Ridgeway, took the challenge to a whole new level and ran the entire 10k loop in one go (and in a very, very impressive 34 minutes!) before changing and then joining his tutor group to complete the walk with them. Being able to make 20k look effortless made for lots of envy from many staff and students alike so well done to Harvey!
The most wonderful part of the day was the fact that we had time to spend together as a school to talk and connect. The atmosphere on Lavant Green was just wonderful. Football games, picnics and just time reconnecting with one another after a difficult couple of years with school closures and Lockdowns was something which we all needed – perhaps more than we realised! We were helped on the Green by our ever-brilliant PFA Patrick from The Ice Box (who was run ragged trying to keep up with demand for ice creams!) who also commented on how delightful our students are and made a generous donation to the fundraising before leaving.
The activities completed in school involved a range of tasks focussed on gaining an insight from student input as to what a school which thrives would look like. We also had a group in charge of our media campaign, including the design and creation of a lovely thrive poster which is now on display in Mr Owen’s classroom, above the main entrance to school. If you’d like to find out more about Wellbeing @ Bishop Luffa, please visit our Google Site: https://sites.google.com/bishopluffa.org.uk/life-in-all-its-fullness/home
The sponsorship is coming in and we’ve currently raised over £18,000; thank you to everyone who has already donated. There is still time to seek out further sponsors though so don’t give up!
The Wellbeing Strategy has been set up to help us reflect on what we’ve all experienced over the past couple of years but is also about looking forward. From this, we aim to establish a Wellbeing Trust so that it’s not just the mental health and wellbeing of students here with us now which is looked after and supported, but that of students in the future. We know, more than ever, that we are part of a unique and wonderful family here at Bishop Luffa so we want to do all we can to ensure that future year groups – generations, even – are able to benefit from the lessons we’ve learned over the past two years and move forward making sure that we do, always, live life in all its fullness.
Mrs L Watson, Assistant Head – Wellbeing Strategy
