Town mascot Bluey joins Suffolk Mind at Ipswich primary school

Children at an Ipswich primary school were thrilled to get a visit from Town mascot Bluey – as we marked Children’s Mental Health Week.

Suffolk Mind visited Ranelagh Primary School on February 4 to teach pupils the importance of ‘reflective listening’, movement and the ‘dragon breathing’ technique as part of its Bluesday Tuesday initiative.

The scheme – with the tagline “If I’m Blue, I can talk to you” – seeks to reengage with schools we have previously worked with and encourage ‘pay it forward’ fundraising to give other schools the opportunity to host a session.

Following an assembly with Louise Taylor-Harris, our Children, Family and Young People’s Service Manager, the children erupted when they were joined by the Tractor Boys’ famous mascot.

“Developing listening skills is very important for children,” said Louise.

“What we teach is called reflective listening, it’s like holding a mirror up to someone.

“When you listen to someone it’s easy to end up jumping in saying ‘don’t worry’ or not truly  paying attention to what they are saying. 

“But that doesn’t always help. If another person is feeling angry or sad, to have someone say ‘yes, I understand you’ and to really hear them is so important.

“Children often speak to other children before they speak to adults, so learning to listen is such a useful skill for them to support each other.

“The children also learned about dragon breathing. It can help to calm you down, relieve tension and give you that moment to think more clearly and make calm choices.

“It was wonderful having Bluey come down to the event as it reinforces the importance of movement to mental health. It was really fun for the children too.”

Nicky Ling, Headteacher at Ranelagh Primary School, said: “Promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing is key to helping our children here at Ranelagh achieve and thrive in their learning.

“Louise and the team at Suffolk Mind are regular visitors to Ranelagh and we were delighted that they were able to visit today to help us promote Children’s Mental Health week as part of Bluesday Tuesday.  

“The children were very excited when Bluey from ITFC joined Louise to further promote the importance of mental health and wellbeing.”