A group of Year 9 pupils at Starbank School have been helping their younger peers with improving their wellbeing through a mentoring programme.
The Young Mental and Physical Wellbeing Champions have delivered a six-week programme to a group of Year 7 pupils, with a range of activities to improve their physical and mental health.
The ‘Active in Mind’ scheme is a pupil-led intervention project, with exercise and mindfulness sessions promoting better physical and mental wellbeing, underpinned by a peer-to-peer support system.
After being selected by the school to take part in the Youth Sport Trust’s project, the group achieved ‘Champion’ status after completing workshops that gave them training on ways individuals can improve sleep, their diet and stress levels through exercise routines. They also learned how our bodies react to different situations and studied practical activities which they could then implement through their own mentoring workshops.
The wellbeing mentors then got to work on delivering their six-week programme, which took the form of a series of games and activities while introducing the power of teamwork and communication.
By engaging with their peers, the activities are intended to encourage an environment where pupils can open up to their peers about the stresses or anxieties they may be experiencing.