Global Wellbeing Week. Day 4

As we move forward with Global Wellbeing Week 2025-2026 at Britannica International School, Shanghai, today’s focus is on the Importance of Connections and Sharing. This initiative aims to enhance the mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing of our students within the Orbital Education community. Each day features a unique theme, with summaries highlighting our engaging activities.

Importance of Connections and Sharing for Children

Building connections and sharing experiences is essential for children's social development and emotional wellbeing. Strong relationships foster a sense of belonging and security, helping students navigate their social environments. By emphasising the importance of connections, we encourage our students to appreciate the value of friendship, empathy, and community.

Today's Activities

Today’s theme revolved around fostering connections and sharing, with activities designed to strengthen bonds within our school community.

  • Whole School: The day began with a Big School Breakfast, where the entire school community gathered to share breakfast and make new friends. Students were encouraged to pair up with someone they hadn’t spoken to before and, if possible, take a walk around the field or playground, or simply sit together. This initiative aimed to build new connections among students and staff.
  • EYFS: Students participated in Paperchain Connections: Students reflected on important people in their lives and created a linked paper chain, visually representing how these important connections are intertwined.
  • Primary:
    • Big Breakfast: Following the whole school breakfast, Primary students continued to build connections through conversations with new people.
    • Reading Buddies: Older year groups paired with younger year groups to read together, fostering bonds and relationships across different ages within the school.
    • Paperchain Connections: Similar to EYFS, students reflected on important people in their lives and created a linked paper chain, visually representing how these important connections are intertwined.
  • Secondary: Activities focused on the importance of connections:
    • KS3: Students learned to write an email or a letter, with teachers scaffolding the process to help them correctly structure their correspondence. The outcome was a formal yet friendly email sent to another Orbital school, introducing themselves and sharing aspects of life at their school.
    • KS4: Students took on the role of teaching assistants in primary classrooms for the day, supporting younger learners and contributing to a shared learning experience. This role helped develop empathy, leadership, and communication skills, while also providing insight into the value of community engagement and collaborative learning.

As we reflect on the importance of connections and sharing today, we encourage all students to think about the relationships they cherish and how they can continue to build meaningful connections. Stay tuned for tomorrow's article as we explore another important theme during Global Wellbeing Week!