Each year, towards the end of Winter Term, we mark our own RUOK Week in both Senior and Middle Schools. The focus is on reminding students and staff notice what’s going on around them with others, and what’s happening inside them. There is a dual emphasis on asking others if they are travelling okay, but also on asking for help if you are struggling. We try to normalize these feelings and we also provide the boys with strategies for providing and seeking help, as well as places to visit (real and virtual) and people to speak with (face-to-face and online).

We understand this is difficult for boys, so we run a Chapel service which outlines these sorts of things. We also finish with all the Year 12s singing a song – we adapt a current pop tune and re-write the lyrics to fit in with the RUOK theme. The idea is that singing is like asking someone if they are okay – it is outside of most people’s comfort zone, and you have to listen to others.

We emphasise that checking in on yourself and others is not something that should be confined to one week a year – this week is merely a reminder of what we should be doing each day.