Feb 8, 2023 | Ackworth School
The week is Children’s Mental Health Week, and we are putting all our focus on CONNECTIONS!
We live in a modern world where we are constantly connected through online and digital platforms, and yet isolation and loneliness seem to have become a top concern for young people. During the COVID pandemic our society was forced to close doors and open computer screens causing much of the population to lose face to face communication skills. In fact, research undertaken by Archives of Disease in Children suggested that babies who were born within the mass lockdown period may have missed out on those vital first social interactions and may develop slower [1].
There is no doubt that the prolonged lockdown period between 2020 – 2022 had an effect on many of us, but did it just highlight an already growing sense of lost connections? A survey circulated in 2018 found that 40% of respondents aged 16-24 reported feeling lonely often or very often, with 2% saying that they are lonely all the time.
So, in support of this year’s theme “Connections” we are communicating ways in which we can begin to reconnect and not feel as lonely. Here are a couple of thought-provoking statements…
Become your own best friend. Being alone and feeling lonely are two different things.
Put your digital device down and look up! Social media can be paradoxically anti-social. (nothing is ever truly “free” to use)
Let’s have a look at some activities we and the Place2Be Charity suggest you taking part in if you are ready to connect with other:
- Focus on self-love.Spending time alone might not seem fun, but the more time you spend doing things you enjoy and being kind to yourself the more confident you will feel. It’s ok to have time just for yourself.
- Express your feelings.It is important to have ways to express yourself, even if right now you don’t have people close to you who you can talk to. Keeping a journal can help you to track your mood and reading over it might help you to see things that keep happening in your life which you might need some help with. Some people like to express themselves through drawing, painting, music, fashion or sport.
- Join a club.You don’t have to be good at something to give it a go and enjoy it. A regular hobby with other people can help you build new friendships and have fun. It can feel really nerve-wracking to turn up to a new place, especially if the people already know each other, but you’re likely to find people who are very happy and willing to help you settle in. Additionally, Ackworth School run after school clubs every night of the week! We also actively encourage children to start clubs if they wish to do so.
- Try volunteering.This can be a great way to learn a new skill, give back to your community, feel good about yourself and meet people passionate about the same things as you.
- Follow your passions.If there is something you absolutely love there will be other people out there who feel the same. Whether that’s an online fan forum or a local writers’ group, find ways to connect with the things you love and you might be surprised about what opportunities that leads to.
- Reach out if you’re struggling.Talk to someone you trust. It could be your parents or wider family members, like older cousins, aunts or uncles. Outside home, it could be a teacher, a neighbour or a close family friend. You can also speak to your GP about how you’re feeling. They can listen, tell you about local services and support groups, or they may suggest specific treatment for the way you’re feeling.
- Just speak to someone. Your teachers will always listen to you and even if they can’t solve the problem, they can help you to find a way of dealing with.
Making that first step can be the most daunting. Ackworth School now has many services in place to help and guide our young people such as our Peer Mentoring program (read all about that here), and the School Counselling available. Reach out to your Form Tutors, Nancy Newlands-Melvin, or Hannah Ellis to find our more.
Let’s take time to re-connect.
Author: Rebecca Edgington, Marketing & Alumni
Jan 26, 2023 | Ackworth School
Matthew, Annabel, Duetai, Tamar, and Steven
This year Ackworth School has launched Sixth Form Peer Mentoring. The aim of the mentoring is for older students to help, educate, and support younger pupils across the school. We spoke with five Peer Mentors to hear what they had to say…
So, tell us about Peer Mentoring, what is it?
Annabel: We started to feel that the Sixth Form Centres are quite isolated from the main school building and felt that this would be a nice way to integrate the different school years and pass on knowledge to younger peers going through school that we didn’t have.
and, why did you decide to sign up as a mentor?
Matthew: I volunteered to be a peer mentor because back when I was younger, there was no one offering this sort of support. Now, there are options available, so I wanted to do it and support anyone who may be going through things I have experienced.
What do you find most rewarding from this role?
Steven: The most rewarding part is just being able to help people. I have helped two students so far, and it’s amazing to see the smile on their faces … it really helps me as a person too, and I think there is a mutual exchange I guess, both sides are improving.
and, alternatively what have you found most challenging?
Duatei: Some of the most challenging moments can be just trying to understand and engage with the students. I have to not to be too direct sometimes. It’s all about giving your honest and own opinion without being too straight forward which could potentially scare or intimidate some peers.
Tamar: Something else I am terrified of is someone coming in with homework I don’t understand or not being able to solve the problem.
What training did you have to go through to prepare you for this?
Steven: We had three 1hr lessons where we got trained on dealing with different types of situations that we might find ourselves in. We learnt how to handle those situations and who to go to if we, as mentors, needed extra support.
Matthew: The most important bit was learning the dos and don’ts. There is a lot of responsibility with this regarding safeguarding issues so it was important for us to understand all the things we cannot do, but also the things we should do when working with each individual situation.
Interesting, can you give me an example?
Annabel: We had training on communication skills, confidentiality, and body language.
How do you feel about holding that responsibility?
Tamar: It’s kind of intimidating to be in that position of power because not only are you taking the responsibility of communicating with a younger student, but also you’re taking responsibility for the aftermath of the advice you give. So, it can feel scary to give them advice that might backfire. That’s why it’s so important to think things through for a while before jumping to conclusions.
Matthew: One advantage is you know there’s multiples of you, so we can work together.
So, you lean on each other for support too?
Matthew: Yes, and there is always three of us at one time.
Where can students find you?
Tamar: We are available every break time, lunch, and after school for 30 minutes and it’s held in the library.
Thank you to Annabel, Tamar, Matthew, Steven, and Duatei for taking the time to speak with me today about Peer Mentoring.
Jan 20, 2023 | Ackworth School, Old Scholar
On 19th January, Ackworth School’s Old Scholar representatives made the trip down to London to meet with Old Scholars in the South of England. It was fantastic to see to see you all and to watch connections re-establish amongst this group.
Left to right: Victoria (AOS 92), Georgina (AOS 91), Clive (AOS 81), Emmanuelle (AOS 82), Robert (AOS 81), Stephen (AOS 82), Anton Maree, Head of Ackworth School, and his wife Alison Maree
One attendee stated that is was a “great night!”.
Another quoted, “Thanks very much for organising last evening. It was an interesting event and was good to hear of the developments and to meet some fellow Old Scholars”
Thank you to all those who attended and supported this event.
Jan 18, 2023 | Ackworth School
Ackworth School is proud to be working in conjunction with the Anti-Bullying Alliance. Every November, Ackworth School partakes in Anti-Bullying week which brings awareness to the ABA by running activities schools can get involved in, such as Odd Sock Day. Here at Ackworth School, we continuously support these campaigns physically and over our social media platforms. ABA’s theme for November 2022 was “Reach Out” and there was a variety of resources which assisted our themed assemblies and activities throughout the week.
The ABA also run a range of events throughout the year for new and existing members.
If you would like to read more about the amazing work that Anti-Bullying Alliance does in schools and for young people, you can find many helpful resources over on their website.
www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk
Jan 16, 2023 | Ackworth School, Sport
We celebrate the achievements of our pupils within and outside of school. Over the weekend of the 15th January, Jack (fifth form) jumped at the Northern Indoor Championships at Sheffield Institute of Sport, taking home a gold medal! He achieved a clearance of 1.90m. Congratulations Jack!
