Children's Mental Health Week 2026: This Is My Place
Children’s Mental Health Week takes place every February to raise awareness of the importance of children and young people’s mental health. The 2026 theme, “This is My Place,” focuses on helping children feel a strong sense of belonging in their friendships, school and community.
Throughout the week, each class took part in a range of activities designed to explore what belonging means and how we can help one another feel included, valued and supported. Our School Council also organised a variety of playground events to bring children together at playtimes and strengthen our sense of community.
Reception
Olympus
The children talked about where they feel they belong, some children talked about family and friends outside school and others shared their friendships and sense of belonging in school.
As one of our activities this week we made friendship bracelets for someone we care about and talked about how acts of kindness can be a lovely thing to do. The children have continued to make notes and cards for their friends.
We created a collage to show all the things that connect us and things we care about - it had beaches and forests, unicorns, cats and people we care about.
Pupil voice:
S: I have my Team Olympus family and sometimes I am part of the team at After School Club. My place is happy in my classroom with my friends and teachers and so so happy with my family and my crafts. I like being creative.
E: I like my cats and my sister. One of my cats is not friendly but the other one is a happy place.
A: I like quiet places, they make me happy. I like stories and snuggles.
B: I drew things that make me smile, snuggles, my brother
Key Stage One
Ben Hope
For Children’s Mental Health Week, we’ve been learning about Place2Be’s theme, ‘This is My Place’. We talked about what it means to feel like we belong, the places that make us feel safe and happy, and how we can help everyone at school feel welcome and included. As a class, we each created a special map to show the places where we feel we belong.
Pupil voice
Belonging is about feeling safe – Thomas
Belonging is doing the things you enjoy – Yasin
Belonging is feeling safe and comfortable - Ruby
Ben Nevis
This week, we have been proud to take part in Children’s Mental Health Week, exploring this year’s theme, ‘This is My Place’.
Through class discussions, Ben Nevis class reflected on what it means to feel a sense of belonging and considered the people and places that help them feel safe, valued and happy. We also explored the important role we all play in creating a school community where everyone feels welcome and included.
As part of our learning, each child created a personal “Belonging Map”, highlighting the special places where they feel they belong.
We also enjoyed a calming session of mindful yoga after lunch, helping us to reset and refocus for the afternoon.
Pupil Voice
Maxine- I think belonging is a place where you are happy not sad.
Ava-May - Belonging means a place where you belong. I belong with mum and dad.
Jesse - Belonging is going somewhere then you arrive and you are happy when you arrive because you are wanted to be there.
Lower Key Stage 2
LKS2 loved taking part in Children’s Mental Health Week and exploring this year’s theme, “This is Our Place.”
Snowdon
We had some brilliant conversations about what makes our classroom feel safe, welcoming and happy. The children shared ideas about kindness, teamwork, respect and celebrating our differences. It was great to hear them talk about how everyone should feel valued and included in our school.
They showed a fantastic understanding of what belonging really means and how we can all help each other feel supported.
Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro explored communities and how they can foster mental wellbeing and promote a sense of belonging. The children listed the many communities they belong to, such as their class, after school club, and all being children.
They then put these communities onto puzzle pieces and connected them as a reminder that while fit into many communities which foster a sense of belonging, we are all still one community of humanity.
Pupil Voice:
Where do you belong?
Queen Emma's because I get to make new friends and look after new people when they come - Kathleen
Kilimanjaro because we learn more about our feelings and look after each other - Bentley
Upper Key Stage Two
Across UKS2 we have been reflecting on what our own ‘happy place’ might look like, and how using it can help us stay calm, grounded and positive. Pupils also explored how different situations can make us feel in a range of ways, recognising that it is normal to experience more than one emotion at the same time. It was an a open, healthy discussion about emotional awareness and wellbeing.
We looked at our happy places and thought about the kinds of things we would put in them. We drew them like maps and added lots of different things that make us feel happy. It’s important because having a happy place can help you stay healthy and feel good, both mentally and physically.
Written by Carmen, Year 5
