Becoming Wellness Champions!

On Tuesday 24^th February, ten students across Year 9-Lower Sixth took part in Mental Health First Aid training in partnership with YouHQ. The purpose of this course is to equip our students with the confidence and skills to recognise when someone may be struggling with their mental health, how to start supportive conversations, and when to seek further assistance with staff. In today’s session, students were taught a curriculum with an assessment at the end to start their journey as Wellness Champions.

Jez Belas, who ran the session with YouHQ and used to be Leighton Park’s Director of Sport, reflected: “The students have been immaculate! They were engaged, asked sensible questions, and gave good real-life examples. We have been working with Leighton Park for the last two and a half years, and this year the idea was to upskill key students to support wider wellbeing in the community. This was our first go at a session like this, so I’m feeling positive after today!”

Attending students were enthused after today’s session, Sarah (Lower Sixth) commented: “It was interesting because we all had prior knowledge, but we could really develop ourselves with this course. And the test at the end went well as everyone passed, with a couple people getting full marks.”

William (Year 10) felt: “It was a great curriculum that was really broad, which is important in terms of wellness. This role is about supporting the younger parts of the school, and with that the key takeaway for me was the exceptional level of interaction we had amongst each other about this. And we get overarching support from pastoral which makes this work even better!”

When looking back on the session, Ruhan (Year 9) had to say: “It really does help you appreciate yours and others wellbeing. We learnt about how to help people with their emotions and how we can help them get through some of the struggles that they’re having. If they were feeling down or had an argument with their friends, we’re now here to help them feel safe and so they have someone extra to talk to.”

Through ongoing collaboration between students, staff, and YouHQ, our Wellness Champions will help build a school culture where students feel seen, supported, and confident to ask for help and to help others.