As a school, we will be focusing our attention on the UK's Children's Mental Health Week, 1-7 February 2021, but I'd also like to acknowledge this day, where the theme is mental health for all.

One of the concerns I have when discussing mental health is the tendency to equate it with a negative perception.  A lot of people think 'Mental Health = poor mental health'.  But of course, just like 'Diet = poor diet' is incorrect, this is comparing two different qualitative terms.

Just this week, I was discussing with Year 7 the vocabulary that is used for mental health.  If you make two lists to describe mental health, one with negative terms and the other positive, the group almost always completes the first, whilst the second is sparsely populated.  

As a society, we have made huge steps in the last ten years.  But we still have a long way to go.  I will keep banging my drum, shouting from the rooftops, with support very much from Dr Essex.

Mental health is for all.  It is not good or bad in itself.  It is just life.  And we all know, we need help with life sometimes.