Flash the hamster celebrates Children’s Mental Health Week!

Monday 4th February 2019 was the start of Children’s Mental Health Week and we were delighted to visit an Apple’s Friends class at Merton Park School in south London.
 
In Mrs Hastings' class, they have an extra special participant in their Apple’s Friends lessons - a real life hamster called Flash! Flash came out of his house at the start of the lesson and sat on Mrs Hastings' shoulder. He then joined the children at their tables in his ball while they focussed on their activities.
 
We were delighted to find out that the activities for that session were the ones we had specially produced for Children’ Mental Health Week. It was brilliant to see how well the children responded to the theme of “Healthy: Inside and Out” and how they enjoyed discussing the special “situation cards”. They came up with lots of ideas and possible solutions to help both their physical and mental health.
 
It was obvious from chatting to the children that they really enjoyed their Apple or “Flash” lessons. Plus, they came up with lots of brilliant solutions to keep their minds and bodies healthy, including ones they had learnt throughout the programme.
 
Thank you to Mrs Hastings, Merton Park School and Flash for having us visit!