Peterborough pupils take the stress out of school

At the start of the school year, Nene Park Academy established a mental health champions group made up of 22 Year 12 students who work together to raise awareness of mental health in the school.

Teacher, Samantha Lawrence, is leading the Stress Less campaign at Nene Park Academy. She said: “I am so proud of our mental health champions. It is great to see how passionate the volunteers are about helping their fellow students to develop essential tools to cope with their mental health, which will be especially helpful this exam season.

“The champions volunteer after school to take part in workshops and form plans to improve their fellow students’ mental health.”

The champions have completed the Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire Mind ‘Take five’ challenge, spending five weeks looking at changes they can make around school to reduce stress and implement a StressLESS Action Plan. They also attended a theatre production on male mental health and suicide earlier in the year and are currently being trained as mental health first aiders.

Principal of Nene Park Academy, Steve Howard, said: “It is amazing to see how hard our mental health champions are working to improve mental health awareness in school. The students have worked hard to share their knowledge with the rest of the school and have delivered several successful presentations for their fellow student.”

He said the group was also helping to prepare a bid to gain funding for a‘Chill Out Zone’ – a designated area in school that will provide a safe place for students to relax and de-stress.