R U OK?

Manjimup Primary School students and staff recognised R U OK? day last week, a national event which promotes suicide prevention and mental health awareness.

The students performed a song which tied in with the theme of the day and assembled on the oval to form the words R U OK.

The vision of staff and students forming the letters was filmed using a drone, to help capture the full effect.

The school’s Aboriginal education officer Tracy Hansen said it was important to discuss mental health with students, to help them understand their own emotions as well as how others around them might be feeling.

“One of our school committees is health and wellbeing and through this committee we decided we should join in with R U OK? day,” she said.

“Last year we supported the day by wearing yellow but this year we thought we should do more and get the students to check in and make sure their peers are OK.”

School chaplain Brenda Percival said the senior students had helped the juniors figure out where they needed to be in the formation.

“It was part of a maths lesson working out how may children there were to how much space would be needed to make the words,” she said.

Art teacher Gill Woollams said teaching the students about mental health from an early age would be beneficial in the future.

“If we can catch them at this age and teach them what they need to do to help with things like anxiety and stress, then they will know what to do when they are older and feel like that,” she said.