Wellbeing has become a growing issue in schools, with teachers increasingly using mindfulness and stress-prevention techniques to support young people’s mental health.

At Wellington School in Somerset, wellbeing lessons - blending mindfulness and physical activity - have replaced PE lessons, it emerged this month. Pupils also have an outdoor education programme and competitive games.

And last month Sir Anthony Seldon, vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham and former master of the unrelated Wellington College in Berkshire, said that the government should create school league tables tracking pupils’ wellbeing to help tackle mental health problems.

According to The Good Childhood Report, published annually by the Children’s Society, wellbeing at school changes for boys and girls as they age.

This year, the report looked at the wellbeing of more than 3,000 children aged between 10 and 15 across the UK. It asked them to rate how happy they were with aspects of their life, with responses converted into scores out of 10.

The report finds that children are generally happier with school at the age of 10 than they are at the age of 15. Girls’ wellbeing declines steadily with age, but boys’ scores are more uneven.

At the ages of 10, 11 and 12, girls are happier than boys with school and schoolwork. But at 13 and over, boys are happier with school than girls, and by 15, they are happier with schoolwork.