Over 220 students visited the school library at the beginning of this week to experience HeartSpace and the 14 reflection stations specially created there.

The interactive space offered a range of activities designed to encourage students to slow down, reflect, and consider their lives, hopes, and values. Each station invited students to pause from the pace of daily life and engage in thoughtful moments of personal reflection.

The response from students was overwhelmingly positive, with many describing HeartSpace as a calming, thoughtful, and at times emotional experience. One student commented: “Please can we have something like this up all the time?”

Staff members were equally moved by the impact of the event. One teacher, who brought two classes to visit the space, said:

“I found the experience extremely moving. It was incredible to see students opening up about things and pausing to reflect. Reading some of the comments they had written on the various activities was really powerful, and just listening into little snippets of conversation that the facilitators were having with the students was so inspiring. It just felt like such a rare opportunity for them to chill out and connect with themselves, something I think lots of students found quite hard to do.”

HeartSpace was made possible thanks to the dedication of members of local churches, who came in to support Verity Eastwood-Dewing, the School Chaplain, along with sixth form students who have been developing the project through their Elective over the last two terms.

The success of HeartSpace highlights the importance of creating opportunities for young people to pause, reflect, and nurture their wellbeing in a busy school environment.