Over the past 5 weeks, we have been lucky enough to work alongside Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families.
We all believe that young people’s ability to make the most of both the opportunities and difficulties of life is as important as the grades they get.
Education for Wellbeing, England’s largest research trial of school-based mental health interventions, supports this vision and we were extremely pleased to be selected as part of their trial. They are commissioned by the Department for Education to deliver this programme across mainstream primary and secondary schools across England and the aim of the programme is to evaluate pioneering ways of supporting the mental wellbeing of pupils. They support schools in trying out different interventions and examine their impact on pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.
The area of the programme which was selected for us was YAM, which is a mental health promotion programme delivered over five consecutive weeks. It was delivered by a certified YAM Instructor and YAM Helper who are external professionals and who have received specialist training.
The students of The English Martyrs Catholic School & Sixth Form College participated in each session with compassion and maturity and feedback from the instructors was exceptional. Well done to everyone involved!