WELLBEING WEDNESDAY: The art of learning to relax

From needle felting to horse riding, reading, painting and baking bread, HANNAH BURFIELD explored the wide range of activities RGS students and staff enjoyed on Wellbeing Wednesday in order to escape their screens and relax

IN order to give both students and teachers a much-needed break from online learning, everyone took part in what became known as Wellbeing Wednesday.

All online lessons were cancelled for the day and this enabled everyone to take some time to do some activities they really enjoyed. Personally, I made use of the nice weather to go for a run and catch up on some reading that I had been putting off for a while.

After experiencing a lack of motivation recently, I found that Wellbeing Wednesday was exactly what I needed to get through the week.

I’ve been catching up with teachers to find out what everyone else managed to do. Food and nutrition teacher Mrs Solden, an avid baker, made some sourdough bread, something she really enjoys making.

Mr Long, head of history, spent some time reading the book The Black Prince by Michael Jones.

Unfortunately, deputy head Miss Murray wasn’t able to do horse riding – an activity she thoroughly enjoys at the weekends. She has two horses, one called Duffy who is retired and will be 24 years old in August, and Paddy who is 14 years old. She enjoys hacking about the lanes near Galphay and finds it a great way to see the countryside and get close up to wildlife.

Students also got involved in a variety of activities, such as Jasmine Holley who watched The Ted Bundy Tapes, which she described as ‘traumatic’.

Like many other students, Jordan Stone spent the day relaxing and admitted that she slept quite a lot! Similarly, Tilly Hall enjoyed a nice lie in, did a Joe Wicks workout because, she says: “It wouldn’t be a lockdown routine without him.” She then spent some time continuing her new hobby of needle felting.

Ava Edwards told me that she made use of her time by doing some painting and going for a walk. On a similar note, Robyn Munday bought some paint to decorate her new house, and also enjoyed a Costa coffee with her mum.

In all, Wellbeing Wednesday proved to be a very beneficial day for everyone and provided an opportunity to get away from screens and spend time doing activities we all really enjoy. 

*Click on the video above to hear Mr Milner's top tips for Wellbeing Wednesday