Children’s Mental Health Week 2026
At Catholic Care, Children’s Mental Health Week provided a meaningful opportunity to celebrate children’s voices, promote wellbeing and highlight the importance of connection within our school communities.
New Animated Film: Children’s Mental Health – Looking After Our Wellbeing
To mark the week, our Schools, Children and Family Wellbeing Service created a short animated video designed to help children better understand their mental health and emotions.
The film explores:
- What mental health is
- Why it is important to look after it
- How feelings and emotions connect to brain science
- Practical ways children can support themselves and where they can go for help
The video is suitable for Key Stage 2 and secondary school pupils and is intended to raise awareness, encourage open conversations and support student wellbeing.
Our service provides therapeutic support to children, young people and their families across primary and secondary school settings.
You can watch the full video above or visit our YouTube channel.
Promoting Connection in Schools
During the week, our team delivered a workshop at a Bradford primary school, bringing together Student Mental Health Ambassadors to explore the theme of connection and wellbeing.
Through interactive activities such as human bingo and creative poetry writing, students reflected on what it means to feel seen, valued and supported. The session created a safe and encouraging space for young people to share their thoughts, build relationships and celebrate the power of connection.
We were incredibly proud of the creativity, openness and thoughtfulness shown by everyone involved.
Collective Poster: Celebrating Connection
As part of Children’s Mental Health Week 2026, we also created a collective group poster centred around our theme of Connection.
Children and young people from Christ The King Primary School, St Joseph’s Primary School (Wetherby) and Cardinal Heenan High School took part, bringing remarkable creativity and reflection to the project.
The poster explored our connections:
- To the world around us
- To each other
- To ourselves
From a glittery universe and Mother Earth, to family, friends, animals and personal wellbeing, the designs beautifully illustrated how relationships and kindness — both towards others and ourselves — make a positive difference in our lives.
The creativity, imagination and thoughtfulness shown by the children was inspiring.
Listening to Children’s Voices
We also asked some of the children we support what helps their wellbeing. Their responses were powerful reminders of how important it is for children to feel understood, listened to and supported.
From talking to trusted adults, to learning calming techniques, practising self-kindness and finding creative outlets, children shared how small steps can make a big difference in how they feel.
Supporting Children and Young People
Our Schools, Children and Family Wellbeing Service works closely with educational settings to provide:
Educational Psychology (EP) Support
Educational Psychologists work at individual, group and whole-school levels. They collaborate with parents, carers and school staff to assess children’s strengths and difficulties, provide advice and recommend supportive strategies. EP involvement always takes place with parental consent and in close partnership with families and schools.
School-Based Counselling
We provide counselling to support children, young people and school staff experiencing mental health challenges. Early intervention through counselling can help address issues that may otherwise impact learning, attendance, behaviour and overall wellbeing.
Children’s Mental Health Week reminds us that mental health is just as important as physical health. By working together — schools, families and support services — we can ensure every child feels heard, supported and valued.