NEWS...
Duo launches pioneering programme to help teachers support student mental health
Two women have launched a ‘pioneering’ programme for secondary schools which helps make life ‘easier’ for teachers and equips students to manage their mental health and wellbeing more effectively. Dr Sian Morris and
psychotherapist Faye Kinirons this month introduced The Mental Health Project – a new educational start-up that offers Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) curriculums and resources for children between the ages of 11 and 16.
The programme, available in England and Wales, meets the Government’s statutory guidelines on mental health and wellbeing. It includes digital resources such as guided videos, planned activities, teacher guidance, student workbooks, schemes of works, optional Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and parent webinars. The Mental Health Project offers five lessons for each year group from seven to 11 in Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.
The Mental Health Project packages are designed to ‘empower teachers with the materials they need to guide students in learning about mental health and wellbeing’. They will also provide students with knowledge that will help them ‘make sense of their emotions along with practical strategies’ that will enable students to manage anxiety, low mood, body
image, relationships, and exam stress.
Having both worked with young people in education and therapeutically, the duo, who each run their own private practices, realised there was a ‘universal problem’ and decided to form The Mental Health Project to meet the increasing mental health needs of students in secondary schools.
Dr Morris said: “Teachers are being asked to respond to growing mental health needs of adolescents on top of what is often already an overwhelming workload.
“The current RSE and PSHE curriculum in England and Wales mean that secondary schools must decide how to cover mental health and emotional wellbeing lessons. This task often falls on the desk of one teacher who may have some knowledge but is already overstretched. “They are then expected to create a plan that covers complex emotional subjects which may lead to students not getting the support they need. The teenage years are critical when it comes to learning how to manage things such as anxiety, body image and exam stress.” Ms Kinirons said: “Young people need to know how to manage their mental health day-to-day. We feel passionately that this knowledge should not be restricted to those who have access to individual therapy or resources at home.
“The Mental Health Project has a simple mission. To provide resources that take care of the mental health curriculum for teachers that makes their lives easier while also equipping students with an understanding of their mental health and wellbeing along with strategies that will benefit them both in the classroom and beyond.”
https://www.thementalhealthproject.co.uk/
Unite Students begins construction of new 719-bed student property in Stratford, London
Unite Students, the UK’s largest provider of student accommodation, has begun the construction phase of its new £185million property in Stratford, London.
Hawthorne House is being built in Farthingale Walk, Stratford, and is replacing former office block Jubilee House, which has now been demolished. It will open in time for the 2026/27 academic year. The 36-storey property includes a 65,000 sq ft sixth-form academy, the London Academy of Excellence, over eight floors, which will be in place for an initial 35-year term.
Unite Students is using a ‘fabric first’ approach, which means the design of the building optimises the materials being used in its construction to give better energy efficiency, such as maximising air tightness and solar gain. The development’s embodied carbon saving is 9,770 tCO2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) over 60 years, which exceeds the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) 2030 Climate Challenge baseline. These are voluntary performance targets for operational energy use, water use and embodied carbon.
London, which is home to over 300,000 students, hosts three of the world’s top 25 universities. Unite Students is the capital’s largest student
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www.education-today.co.uk
accommodation operator and is committed to adding more beds. Unite Students acquired the Farthingale Walk site earlier this year for £73million. RG Group has been awarded the build contract.
www.unitestudents.com January 2024
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