We have just marked our fifth Global Be Well Day across our Cognita community. This is a day when each school marks the importance of wellbeing with their community.

Rewind! Our inaugural Global Be Well Day (GBWD) took place in 2019. This was a result of an organisation-wide conversation with our school leaders. The overriding view was that wellbeing was an increasingly important issue in the lives of the children and communities that we serve. From this came a huge effort and commitment to champion wellbeing across the Cognita community.

As a result of this call to action, we drew upon global research and evidence to devise the Cognita Be Well Charter (see below). Our Charter is driven to ensure that all students can thrive in our rapidly evolving world by identifying three important contributors to physical wellbeing and three important contributors to mental wellbeing.

We cannot write about either GBWD or the Cognita Be Well Charter without paying huge credit to Beth Kerr who was our Global Director of Student Wellbeing. Beth worked tirelessly with colleagues around Cognita to drive each of our wellbeing initiatives.

Fast forward! On our fifth GBWD, the focus on student wellbeing is deeply embedded in the life of each Cognita school. Global Be Well Day is simply a moment in time, but what matters is the excellent work that takes place with students throughout the year.

Our theme for GBWD 2023 was Digital Wellbeing, with schools focusing on ensuring that we understand more about the impact of digital use in our lives. This draws on the Be Well Global Digital Report published earlier this year.

I spent GBWD in our schools in Dubai where there was definitely an atmosphere of learning and fun! The highlight for me was a visit to Ranches Primary School where I met Amber, Sofia and Sienna. They are three of the school’s Wellbeing Ambassadors who are leading wellbeing initiatives across the school. They explained to me the impact of dopamine and oxytocin in managing your own wellbeing. This is a great example of student agency.

In 2019, wellbeing was an emerging priority. Five years on, there is amazing practice in our schools being led by leaders with determination and passion. Thank you to our Cognita community for embracing it and making a difference.

Dr Simon Camby, Group Chief Education Officer

*Cover photo shared by Meoncross School in England