SCHOOL HIGHLIGHT… SUPPORTING

The Mental Health Of Our Young People

It has been an exciting first few months of the academic year with many opportunities to develop the minds of our young people. Within our PSHE and RSE curriculum have been exploring: relationships with themselves and others, digital safety and keeping safe online, gender identity and sexual right and rape culture, all of which plays a huge part in supporting the mental health of our young people.

Alongside this we have had the pleasure of going beyond the curriculum with guest speakers from companies such as:

• ‘Everyone’s Invited’ who focussed on educating our year 11 students about language associated with ‘Sexual Right and Rape Culture’

• ‘Our Streets Now’ who explored violence against women with our KS4 students.

• ‘Barabarni’ - focus on Online Safety for all students within KS3 and 4.

Currently all of our year 7 students are participating in the ‘Peer Education Project’ led by Miss S Tutton and our year 12 students, within PSHE lessons. Within this 5 week programme students will learn:

• That mental health is something that we all have which changes over time and in different circumstances.

• How to challenge common myths surrounding mental health while acknowledging the stigma they can cause.

• The 5 ways to mental wellbeing and identify ways to enhance their own mental wellbeing

• To think of ways that people can help themselves when they are not feeling at their best and identify sources of support when help is needed with mental health.

• How important relationships are to our mental health and to consider how to help friends with their mental health.

To find out more: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/ourwork/programmes/families-children-and-young-people/peereducation-project-pep