World Mental Health Day is celebrated each year on 10th October and Charters School in Sunningdale has been encouraging its students to talk openly about mental health during a series of assemblies throughout the week.
Year 10 Emotional Wellbeing Champions, who have received training in working to remove stigma associated with mental health, designed the assemblies and delivered them to highlight the fact that 1 in 4 young people will struggle with their mental health at some point. They will be running campaigns throughout the school to raise awareness and to encourage students to speak to someone they trust.
They explained that the issue can affect anyone and highlighted a surprisingly long list of celebrities who have spoken openly about their struggles, encouraging students who are experiencing similar feelings to talk about their worries with teachers, friends or family members. The school is keen to promote an open culture around mental health issues to remove any stigma.
Student Welfare Prefects from the school’s Sixth Form spoke at the end of the assemblies to encourage all students to share their feelings. Maddie Presgrave from Year 13 said, “Mental health is the key to success and happiness at school. People need to carry on the conversation and support each other,” while Year 13 student Anika Dawson said, “Mental Health is a big problem, especially at the moment, and I wanted to help with this as much as possible.”
Ms Sassi, Deputy SENCO said “It has been a privilege to work with the Emotional Wellbeing team as they work hard to remove the stigma. Effectively recognising students with mental health problems means that they can be offered targeted support from the right people as soon as possible.”
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