“The workshop was great fun and it was a pleasure to see the students engaging so well with it." Headteacher at Washington Academy, Vicky Carter.

Students at Thornhill, Heworth Grange and Washington academies, part of Consilium Academies, attended a workshop at their school about how to manage stress and anxiety.

  

Pupils at the three schools were visited by a charity called Mind of the Student which aims to give young people the confidence to speak about their mental health. 

  One student said: “I learned today that you have to be comfortable with whatever makes you happy and find hobbies that will relieve your stress so you don't over think and you won't have too much anxiety.” While another noted: “They helped us to understand how mental health can differ for different people and why we shouldn't judge people based on their mental health. I really enjoyed the session.”

The workshops were scheduled in the same week as World Mental Health Day, which is an international day to promote mental health education and awareness and to help stamp out social stigma surrounding poor mental health.  

  

Mind of the Student says its work helps to ensure that no student in school goes without essential training on mental health which equips them with the knowledge, confidence and skills to recognise and address their own mental health needs.

  

Another Year 10 student at Thornhill Academy said: “I really enjoyed the topic because it helped us understand how to face types of anxieties and that I shouldn't keep things to myself.” Another added: “I think this has been really helpful for the future, because we all have times where things are new, like work experience, and we might feel down.”

The students at all three Consilium academies enjoyed the workshop, where the charity put on a range of demonstrations, including using the visual analogy of a bucket filling up and overflowing with water to demonstrate how pressures can build up over time.  

“At Washington, we seek to raise levels of personal and social awareness so that we can significantly raise the life chances of our students.” Headteacher at Washington Academy, Vicky Carter.