Flourishing@Wycombe: Mental Health and Loneliness

Junior House Girls at Wycombe Abbey

We now live in a world of near-constant communication. We receive a huge number of messages and notifications at all hours of the day; through our computers and mobile devices, we can appear in one another’s houses and offices to have video calls and global travel networks have led to a remarkable shrinkage of the world. It was over 75 years ago that Evelyn Waugh wrote, “science annihilates distance” but those words have never been more true. Despite the power of technology to keep us connected many people still suffer from loneliness.

The importance of this topic has been highlighted this year by the mental health foundation who have chosen it as the focus of their annual mental health awareness week. Here at Wycombe Abbey, we observe mental health awareness week in the Spring Term and will be concentrating on this topic. It is an important opportunity to raise conversations about mental health topics and to continue to break down the stigma surrounding these issues.

Loneliness can affect people at any point in their lives. During next week, we will take the opportunity to reflect upon loneliness and other mental health topics. Our wonderful Head of Wellbeing arranges an array of activities and we are always amazed by how maturely the pupils engage with these themes.

At a school such as Wycombe Abbey, there are so many opportunities for pupils to develop close friendships through their Boarding House, their co-curricular activities and their lessons, and we hope that no pupil ever feels lonely. However, we know how important it is for any school to remain vigilant in case a pupil does feel this way. The system of House families, where each pupil has a House mother and older pupils have a House daughter, means that pupils have peer support available if they do feel lonely. Our trained peer listeners are also always there to lend a listening ear. Tutors and House staff provide support and guidance for pupils in all circumstances and can help pupils find ways to develop their friendships and their relationships with others.

Below are a few things the Wycombe Abbey community can do to make the most of relationships and avoid loneliness:

  • spend time with peers in the Boarding House,
  • take up a new hobby through the extras programme,
  • sign up for weekend activities and socials,
  • join an orchestra, audition for a role in a play or join a sports team.

We also encourage pupils to be the best versions of themselves; our wellbeing lessons help pupils understand their emotions and their behaviours and how their behaviour towards others can help them develop positive relationships both with other individuals and with the wider community.

This mental health awareness week, our thoughts will be with the people suffering from loneliness and those of us who reap the benefits from being part of the Wycombe Abbey community will have the opportunity to count our blessings. Awareness weeks such as these may be short, but their importance, like the friendships one builds at school last a lot longer.

Mr James Jones
Deputy Head (Pupils)