During the week of Monday, May 13, the children of Archdeacon Griffiths Primary School in Llyswen enjoyed a whole week of wellbeing activities to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week.

The children took part in an action-packed week, centered on the ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’: Connect, Mindfulness, Being Active, Giving to Others and Learning New Skills.

The week included visits from: Jenny and Julie from CAMHS, Samaya from Team Wales, Commonwealth athlete Charlotte Evans, Sue from Ty Yoga, Jo and Rachel from Rooted Forest Schools, Nicola from Powys Sports, Miss Griffin from Gwernyfed High School, Sports Ambassadors from Gwernyfed High School, Kiersten from Powys Teaching Health Board Dietetics, Maria from Fitclass with MDP , Tim and Steve from Talgarth Football Club and Tim and Gareth from All Stars and Dynamo Cricket.

Also, two of the school’s teaching assistants, Zoe and Mrs Davies led groups in first aid training and Qigong. Year 5 and 6 children led an afternoon of physical activities, planning group sessions for their younger peers which included, bench ball, gymnastics, parachute games, obstacle course and lava games. 

The highlight of the week was a visit from Paralympic gold medallist Kylie Grimes and Activ Kids. As part of her visit, the children took part in a sponsored ‘circuit’ performing impressive spotty dogs, mountain climbers, press-ups and star jumps. They raised an incredible £624.90 for the school.

Kylie told the children all about her astonishing career in which she achieved 64 medals ranging from National, European, World and Paralympic Championships in both wheelchair rugby and athletics. The children were inspired to listen to her story and learn about her determination to win Paralypmic gold in Tokyo for wheelchair rugby, which was her third and final Paralympic Games.  A spokesperson for the school said: “A special mention needs to go to the Co-op in Talgarth and Morrisons in Brecon for kindly donating delicious fruits, as well as milk, for the children to make fruit kebabs and smoothies for healthy snacks. 

“The children had a truly fantastic week and are very grateful to Mrs Woods for organising it, and making the week so memorable.”