Mindfulness was brought to a group of year 11 students at Hartsdown Arc -an offsite school provision for young people who struggle to access mainstream education- by Holly Sutcliffe from Re:set School this week
The session comes as part of Children’s Mental Health Week (February 3-9), which aims to raise awareness about the importance of supporting children and young people’s mental health.
Good mental health is at the core of Re:set School’s values and the work they do with young people, educators and parents.
In a two-hour session on Tuesday, the small group of students were taught about how the teenage brain develops, why and how that impacts their lives and different mindfulness techniques to support them in day-to-day life as well as in their upcoming exams.
Teacher Carla Knight said the session was informative, “giving the students simple and easy to use techniques for self-regulation and responding to stress in a healthy way”.
An NHS survey in 2017 found that one in eight children have a diagnosable mental health disorder. Children’s Mental Health Week, run by the children’s mental charity Place 2 Be, plays an important part in opening conversations about the mental health of young people and ways to work with them.
Holly, the founder of Re:set School, has more than a decade of experience in education and personal and professional experience of mental health conditions.
As someone who lives with PTSD and anxiety, Holly is on a mission to support as many people to empower them to maintain their mental health and wellbeing. She credits mindfulness, yoga and mindset with transforming her life and wants to share that with as many educators, parents and young people as possible.
Later this month, Holly will return to Hartsdown Arc to work with teaching support staff on responding mindfully to students’ emotional needs, giving them tools and techniques they can share with students, as well as using themselves.
