This week at Westbourne marked the beginning of a three day focus on ‘Wellness’ and ‘Wellbeing’. Spearheaded by Matthew, Nazar Mrs Allen and Mrs Jessop, the whole school took part in exciting and differing activities which allowed students to de-stress and switch off.
On Monday morning, a mixture of students across all ages headed down to Cardiff International Pool. Boasting an olympic sized swimming pool, slides and a whole host of other facilities, students really got stuck in and had a wonderful time.
By the time they’d dried off, the afternoon swiftly came around. It kicked off with a carousel of options for students to partake in – one being an art and drawing session. Local artist Andrew Coslett kindly came in for a 2 hour session and took a class which focused on still life and watercolour painting. The use of art can be extremely effective for taking a moment to breathe, think and slow down. This was also reflected by those who didn’t take part in session as they chose to do ‘Mindful Colouring’. In combination with this, Maths and English games were also available.
As Tuesday rolled around, so did another wave of fun activities. Firstly, 59 students took a trip out to Viola Arena. With it being so close, it only took 30 mins to walk over! On the agenda was ice skating which, of course, proved to be highly popular. Again it was a lovely moment for students to interact and relax.
Once the hive of excitement and skating drew to a close, movie afternoon began. Pupils, in both the gymnasium and the sixth form centre, enjoyed films of their choice to take them to the end of the day.
On the final day, Pen Y Fan was on the horizon. 33 students, 4 members of staff and our 2 German exchange teachers made the trek to the top of the highest mountain in South Wales. At a whopping 886m above sea level, it certainly proved to be a task for all of our students. Despite the long road ahead of them, every student made it up, one way or another. Once getting there though, it seemed the mist would never clear. To everyones amazement, it did, and it revealed the spectacular view of the stream and surrounding hills. Mrs Allen stated that “it was so lovely to see students, who may not have spoken, supporting and cheering each other on to the top. When we finally reached the summit there was a mini celebration amongst all of us.”
In a separate string of events, another group of students headed out towards Cardiff Bay for a walk.
To begin the day, Mrs Jessop held a talk about gratitude which outlined elements of our pupils lives that they should cherish and not take for granted. Following on from the rousing talk, all headed to Cardiff Bay. Here, everyone enjoyed a lovely lunch in the sunshine before heading back to the school.
Overall, the entire project was a resounding success. A massive thank you to all who participated, organsied and assisted all of the events which took place.