Hello! Mrs Wood here.

Have you ever heard of Blue Monday?? It’s always on the third Monday of January so that’s today! Supposedly it’s meant to be the gloomiest day of the year – but definitely not for us at Southill. At our school we are trained in the ways of wellbeing. We know how to change a gloomy day into an awesome one … not just for ourselves but for others too. So if you see someone looking a bit down see if you can cheer them up. There are lots of little things you can do to brighten someone’s day, even just a smile can sometimes do the trick. I’m sure you can think of lots of ways.

And if you’re feeling a bit melancholy yourself you might be interested in how resourceful Tudor Queen Elizabeth I used to beat the blues. You’ll be surprised that it’s no so different from what we can do today:

Exercise

Elizabeth loved walking in the grounds of her palaces — although a local park will also do just fine! Especially fond of the gardens at Hampton Court Palace, the Queen even had windows overlooking her route blocked, so that she could stride about in total privacy.

Dance

On rainy days, Elizabeth stayed indoors and practised her steps. A highly accomplished dancer, she loved to perform energetic routines like the galliard and volta (which involves being thrown into the air by a partner, so maybe don’t attempt that one right away…)

Take a bath

Elizabeth took bath time very seriously. Don’t forget to put some relaxing music on too — the Queen’s luxurious bathroom at Whitehall Palace had an organ in the adjacent room, so she could be serenaded as she bathed!

Read a book

Elizabeth was a keen reader in several languages, but especially enjoyed an audiobook (i.e. commanding one of her ladies to read aloud to her). Or if you’re after a challenge, the Queen also liked to kick back by translating ancient Greek and Roman texts.

Get creative

A typical overachiever, Elizabeth excelled at the traditional private pastime for female royals: embroidery. At the age of just 5 she presented her infant brother Edward with ‘a shirt… of her own working’! If embroidery’s not your thing, have a go at something else creative.

Play a game

The queen spent hours playing cards, backgammon, gambling or gossiping with her ladies about the ladies events and scandals at court. You could try asking someone in your family to challenge you in a game.

Elizabeth I was the last Tudor monarch. She was Queen of England from 17 November 1558 until her death on 24 March 1603. Her father was Henry VIII. You can find out more about her here.

Blue Monday isn’t the only special day this week …

Tomorrow is National Popcorn Day. Thursday is National Hugging Day but also Squirrel Appreciation Day (don’t combine the two and hug a squirrel; they hate hugs!) And Saturday is National Pie Day. Lots more reasons to be positive and cheerful this week. Have a great week everyone. See you soon!

Mrs Wood