We supported the NSPCC’s Childhood Day on June 11th. They had asked people to organise a ‘play event’ to raise money and help keep children safe. At Ballard we celebrated Childhood Day on our Year 3 to  Year 6 trip to Marwell Zoo. Pre-Prep and Year 6 to 7 ventured outside to play a wide range of games in their PSHE lessons.

It comes as the NSPCC-run service Childline today releases stark new data that highlights the huge toll of the pandemic on young people. Since April last year, Childline has carried out 73,088 counselling sessions about mental or emotional health. 5,646 of these counselling sessions were with children aged 11 or under, an increase of nearly a third (29%) when compared to the year before.