The beautiful weather and high temperatures were perfectly timed as students and staff at North London Collegiate School celebrated Feel Good Week in the summer term.
During a number of focus weeks over the year, which include Kindness, Celebration, Mental Health & Wellbeing and Anti-Bullying, NLCS aims to highlight key areas that are central to our pastoral ethos.
Although cynics might be quick to call such themed weeks gimmicks, NLCS believes that by placing the spotlight on these vital areas we are helping to embed our fundamental principles. We pride ourselves on promoting a kind, considerate and happy community; the benefits of coming together as staff and students to explore behaviours, values and ideals in a concentrated period of time are exciting, rewarding and impactful.
“We can’t always feel good but we can learn what makes us feel good.”
Feel Good Week is a particularly interesting concept. We know that we can’t always feel good, whereas we would always want to be called kind; there are extra challenges in making sure that this particular focus has a long-lasting impact. The week commenced with a whole school assembly, delivered by our pastoral deputy head, outlining our aims and exploring the plethora of feelings and emotions one might feel during any normal day.
We can’t always feel good but we can learn what makes us feel good. Feel Good Week is just one way we help to equip our students to develop resources to become more self-aware, resilient and confident.
Such weeks will only work if the whole community commits and joins together. Our heads of middle, upper and sixth form worked closely with their form tutors to develop a programme of activities to deliver in form time.
Having prioritised bringing our community back together and re-establishing those vital connections between students after lockdowns and bubbles, it was rewarding to see our sixth formers take such a lead during this week. Our Sixth Form Senior Committee led from the front, working with all year groups, to create a whole school feel good mural. Our wonderful team of trained Sixth Form Peer Mentors led a range of workshops; our support staff contributed with their own events for students. In every sense, this was a whole school experience.
“It was rewarding to see our sixth formers take the lead in helping establish social connections during this week.”
Feel Good Week is not about feeling happy all the time, it is about understanding what and who make us feel safe, supported and positive and, this is going to be different for everyone. For this reason our week was packed with variety and choice to provide something for everyone. At the heart of our pastoral ethos is that everyone matters.
We strive to make sure that every student is well-known and cared for. We celebrate the fact that our students have unique interests, passions and aspirations; we want to support them in fulfilling their unique ambitions. Our week has included form time carousels where year groups have the opportunity to mix up and try a completely new activity.
Workshops have included sessions in art, dance including contemporary and Latin, yoga and Qi Gong. Students have had the opportunity to play traditional games such as sack-racing, to ‘walk and talk’ around the beautiful grounds with our peer mentors, to be still and reflect whilst colouring in and to enjoy scenes from feel good movies.
“All members of the school community were encouraged to smile and greet one another.”
At the end of each day the community received the light-hearted digital “Afternoon Tea” Feel Good Newsletter which included pictures, uplifting quotes, recipes, music that staff and students recommend to lift our mood, news stories as well as links to books, podcasts, websites and further information on some of the activities of the day.
Certain moments stand out as particularly special. At the start of the week, in response to these post-pandemic days when many of us have developed the tendency to remain a little insular, all members of the school community were encouraged to smile and greet one another.
Initially this was, perhaps, seen to be a little contrived but, it didn’t take long for old habits to re-emerge and by the end of the week it seemed natural again. One of our heads of houses set up a Wall of Fame and students were invited to post a simple message about what had made them feel good that week.
“The beautiful sunshine reflected the atmosphere created in the school all week.”
Among many uplifting and inspiring examples the simple “I felt good because I tried hard” stood out. In the middle of the week, the pastoral team delivered a small bar of chocolate to all members of the school community. The thanks and pleasure this simple gesture provoked was immensely touching. It was a reminder to us all that a small act of generosity can have such a powerful impact on all of us.
The beautiful sunshine reflected the atmosphere created in the school all week; students and staff spoke with enthusiasm about the many events and activities. The spotlight brought this particular theme to the foreground and it will remain at the heart of the complex pastoral provision we are proud to deliver.
Our founder, Frances Mary Buss, demonstrated remarkable drive and resourcefulness in establishing the first academic school for girls in 1850; we are confident that she would have approved of Feel Good Week as, like her, we continue to seek to provide the best possible experience for all our students.