Dover Park Primary School has launched a school-wide mental health and wellbeing project as part of its commitment to the Isle of Wight PEACH (Partnership for Education and Community Health) awarding system.
The launch was celebrated on World Mental Health Day with a whole-school ‘Hello Yellow Day’, raising important funds for ‘Young Minds’.
Pupils and staff came to school dressed in yellow (or a splash of yellow) and engaged in a range of interactive activities designed to build emotional resilience and promote open discussions about mental health.
Eleanor Baxter, the school’s PSHE lead, explained:
“I am incredibly passionate about ensuring that every child feels supported, understood and able to talk openly about their feelings. Supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing is not an extra; it is fundamental to helping them flourish, both in school and beyond. By creating a culture where children feel safe to express themselves, know that they matter and understand that it is okay to ask for help, we are giving them the foundations to build happy, healthy and confident futures.”
The project is informed by recent feedback from parent and carer questionnaires, alongside anonymous pupil surveys, helping the school target specific areas for development. Moving forward, Dover Park will tailor its curriculum, assemblies, workshops and news articles to help children and families manage emotional wellbeing.
Working closely with the local Mental Health Support Team (MHST), the school has already hosted specialist workshops and will now embed regular, termly Wellbeing Days to help pupils develop practical coping strategies.
Jon Kirby, Headteacher at Dover Park Primary School, said:
“As part of our journey with the Isle of Wight PEACH awarding system and our work with the MHST, we are ensuring mental health support is embedded into daily school life. Listening to our pupils and parents has been vital to ensure this project is linked directly to the needs of our school community and ‘Hello Yellow Day’ was a fantastic start to delivering long-term, practical support for our school.”
