Mental Health Awareness

This year, Ormiston Horizon Academy is making big plans for increasing awareness and the support of young people’s mental health.

Our recent Ofsted commented that “Pupils appreciate the positive environment of their school. Teachers treat them as individuals, and they welcome this. Pupils spoke to inspectors and talked openly about their positive relationships with staff. Pupils say they can ‘be who they want to be’ in this inclusive community. The school prioritises pupils’ personal development. Staff support and encourage pupils’ well-being and mental health very well.”

With 13% of 12-17-year-olds reporting depression and 32% reporting anxiety, mental illness is a concern for adolescent health. It is a concern for young adults as well, since 33.7% of 18-25-year-olds report having some form of mental illness. Depression is particularly increasing among girls, so at OHA we want to continue the awareness and support momentum over this academic year to provide students with as much support as we can, preparing them for when they leave us.

We kicked off this half term with a Mental Health/Self-Harm Awareness Day, where we hosted Satveer Nijjar, Winner of ‘Most Inspirational Person of the Year’ 2018 at the MBBC Awards, into the academy, for direct student, staff and parental training/support on mental health and self-harm guidance.

Satveer delivered an outstanding session to Year 8-11 students, as well as hosting a parental workshop & an extended staff training sessions after school. Feedback from staff and students has been extremely positive on this subject so far.

The Mental Health Services Team is working closely with our Hub Manager, Mrs Dooley to deliver a fantastic Peer Mentoring Programme, where 20 students have completed their training on how to support peers with their mental health – this will also have a new cohort of students in 2025.

The MHST Team will be working with all Year 7 students on their basic mental health needs, all Year 11 students on exam stress and starting to liaise/support more of our parents on topics such as sleep, diet and behaviours.

We are also working closely with the Maccas Project, to deliver workshops which cover the signs and symptoms of mental health, what affects mental health, what could help it and where to get further support. They also target anxiety, how it affects our thoughts and ways to help students cope.