Nether Stowe says “Hello Yellow” to World Mental Health Day

Students at Nether Stowe School wore clothes as bright as their smiles when the school turned yellow to mark World Mental Health Day last week.

Staff and students each donated £1 to don bright clothes to support the ‘Hello Yellow’ campaign and raise cash for Young Minds, a leading mental health charity for children.

The colourful fundraiser was just the latest in a series of projects that has seen Nether Stowe lead the way in mental health support, including holding a regular club where pupils can talk about how they are feeling.

Now the school is to be the first in Lichfield to pilot a scheme, created by the YMCA, where pupils will be trained as ‘peer mentors’ to support their classmates.

The ground-breaking idea is based on the belief that children often find it easier to confide in their peers first, before talking to family members or school staff.

Student Danielle Jewell, 15, will be one of the volunteers to undergo a day of training in Birmingham.

“People say I’m someone you can go and talk to, but I think pupils will find it easier to talk to their peers because they are about the same age and have gone through the same things.”

Kayleigh Patrick, 12, said: “Ever since I got anxiety I have been going to the clubs here, and it’s been a great help. I really liked it when we had a meditation day at the club because it helped me relax.”

Ella-Ruth Wright, 14, said: “Since the start of the year I have been really struggling because of suspected epilepsy – every one or two weeks I have a seizure – and every day I think about it, so it’s hard to concentrate.

“The fact that I’ve been going to the club has been really supportive for me, it’s been great and has made a difference.”

Mental health lead Rachel Chilver said: “We launched an action plan around a year ago to try to raise awareness of mental health issues and to develop ways of helping students learn about it. That has involved the club, assemblies, pledges from members of staff and now the peer mentor scheme.

“Our first aim was simply to raise awareness around the school – when we began a year ago, 40 per cent of students said they knew what mental health was, whereas in September 80 per cent said they understood it. We think it’s important that the students know that mental health is as important as physical health.”

Headteacher Glyn Langston-Jones said:

We recognise that in the environment that pupils are in these days – the pressure of exams, the expectations that are placed on them – that we need to take wellbeing seriously and put structures in place that help our students to develop resilience, confidence and wider skills to help them cope with what life throws at them.”