#HelloYellow at St Martin’s
Students at Salisbury St Martin’s Primary School prepared for World Mental Health Day by taking part in the national #HelloYellow campaign and making a short film.
The #HelloYellow campaign mainly aims to raise awareness of mental health issues, and is the brainchild of Young Minds, a leading mental health charity. That’s TV Salisbury visited the school and filmed some of the activities.
Watch the clip in ‘safe mode’ on YouTube
Students ran a Mile for Mental Health Awareness Day, which amounted to eleven laps around the playground, co-ordinated by Year 6 Teacher Suzanne Browning.
She says, “We know that physical exercise is good for physical health, but also it’s good for mental health, because when you run, or when you exercise, you are stimulating the mind. We find that children really enjoy what they’re doing when they’re exercising, and they come back into class refreshed and ready to learn.”
Student Freyda Nguyen-Vincent agrees.
She says, “When running, I think everyone experiences a kind of joy in them, because it’s physical and it makes you work up your muscles and your brain. It makes you think more.”
Year 3 Teacher Harriet Bridewell has also been working with students, motivating them to dress in yellow and run a cake sale for parents and carers.
She says, “We’re trying to do as much as we can to raise money for the #HelloYellow campaign, and this includes teaching the children about mental health and helping them understand what it means to look after yourself.
“We’re also talking about different people, like famous people and artists who have suffered with mental health issues, getting them to understand that this is a real thing that happens in our society.
“It was lovely to have support from everyone from our school community for this well deserving organisation. We successfully raised £180!”
According to the Mental Health Foundation, mental health problems affect about one in ten children and young people, including depression, anxiety and conduct disorder. Issues often arise in response to what is happening in their lives, particularly sudden changes.
70% of children and young people who experience a mental health problem have not had appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early age. Support and advice is available here.
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