Celebrating the One Year Anniversary of The Alleyn's Well

May 17th 2024

What a week it has been for The Alleyn’s Well as we marked the one-year anniversary of its opening.

Throughout the week, we have hosted several events to celebrate and commemorate the milestone. The week has also been a chance to show some support for Mental Health Awareness Week, which runs from the 13th-19th of May.

Each lunchtime from Monday to Thursday we hosted fun, connective activities at The Alleyn's Well. We kicked things off on Monday with A Big Lego Build in the Coronation Garden, where numerous fun creations came to life.

On Tuesday, we held a Rubik’s Cube Competition, resulting in fierce but friendly rivalry among friends, and plenty of Year 8’s trying their hand at the puzzle in pursuit of a lollipop prize.

Wednesday saw us share a delicious cake, prepared by our wonderful catering team, before some high energy apple bobbing in the sunshine. Mrs. Lunnon shared a lovely address, thanking everyone who has contributed to and supported the space, before cutting the cake with Ethan in Year 7 and handing it out to numerous happy faces. After this, Mrs. Lunnon got involved in the apple bobbing action with the children, which was quite extraordinary considering she was hosting our 11+ Open Event guests just 10 minutes later! Well done Mrs. Lunnon.

We wrapped the week up on Thursday with a (not so) Silent Disco in the Lower School. This aligned perfectly with this year's MHAW theme, “Movement: moving for our mental health” and it was brilliant to see our kids so vibrant, rocking out together in the atrium.

This week has been a great chance to hang out, let off some steam and enjoy some fun activities together. The fast-paced nature of school life at times creates an environment where we forget to have fun and just be, so it has been a nice opportunity to engage with the unstructured facets of school life. This is one of the important things The Alleyn’s Well facilitates for pupils regularly – a place to spend unstructured and connected time together.

Way back in the planning stages, the hope for The Alleyn’s Well was that it would help our pupils and local community find calm in a sometimes-chaotic world. Week by week, it is doing just that through creating a place where pupils can come, and just be.

Over the last year, the welcoming, modern space and the caring, genuine people within it have offered countless opportunities for pupils to enjoy some fun and camaraderie, seek out connection and learning, and relish in the support that comes from a dedicated wellbeing space.

It's a dual-sided effort, with our dedicated nurses and counsellors supporting our pupils with the complexities of everyday life, and Mr. Koloi and his well-being warriors creating a haven for pupils among the busy-ness of school life. From gathering for social pizza parties to learning how to podcast and trying out new technologies, to boardgames with friends in the Coronation Garden, or playing sports together at lunchtime, The Alleyn’s Well has become a central thread for supporting wellbeing at Alleyn’s, and we are very blessed have such a valued space in our school.

As touched on by Mrs. Lunnon in her cake-cutting speech, the space has been received well by the pupils, and the joy, support and sustenance that they have found in The Alleyn's Well is so precious.

None of this would be possible without the above-mentioned nurses, counselors, Mr. Koloi and his team, plus our generous donors, including alumni and friends, members of our Cornflower legacy Club and our Governors, all of whom have supported this brilliant and important project.

WELL done, everyone.

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