Manor School in Northamptonshire has been awarded a prestigious accolade for its groundbreaking work in mental health and wellbeing.
As the secondary school prepares to mark World Mental Health Day on October 10th, it was announced Manor School is the recipient of a Healthy Minds award, in recognition for its work with the charity Bounce Forward.
News that Manor School, which is part of Nene Education Trust, achieved the accolade comes after Amy Bradshaw, Trust Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead, was specially selected to be an ambassador for the pioneering charity Bounce Forward.
The national charity has previously teamed up with the England captain’s charity, The Harry Kane Foundation, to support students nationwide with an overall goal to promote positive mental health across all generations.
Amy Bradshaw said:
“It is fantastic Manor School has been awarded this special status in recognition of the work we have done within Manor to successfully embed the Healthy Minds programme. It’s an absolute honour to be appointed as an ambassador for Bounce Forward. I am extremely proud to be working with the charity to help promote its incredible work to other schools across our county.
“Healthy Minds is the only evidence-based complete health and relationships curriculum for years 7-11. It equips students with the life skills they need to thrive in and beyond school. We continue to see the real difference it is making to the hundreds of Manor students benefitting from the Healthy Minds programme and to our staff delivering the regular sessions, which are a crucial part of our curriculum.”
Manor School was one of only 17 schools selected nationwide to take part in the Bounce Forward charity collaboration with the Harry Kane Foundation, which saw the football star speak to students at Manor via video link earlier this year as part of the charities’ collective campaign.
Interim Principal Adam Crawte said:
“Manor School is proud to announce we have achieved the Bounce Forward Healthy Minds Kitemark. We are the first Harry Kane Lead school to receive the award.
“This milestone is a significant move forward in our mission to deliver the best personal, social and health education available and evidence of our ongoing commitment to the personal development of our students.”
Matt Coleman, Deputy CEO of Nene Education Trust, highlighted how the mental wellbeing of students and staff has been a priority focus for the Trust for several years. He said:
“As a Trust we focus a lot of attention on psychological fitness and wellbeing for both children and staff – it has been an important part of our whole Trust strategy for six years. It is great to receive this recognition especially as mental health and wellbeing has been something we as a family of schools have been championing for a long time now.”
The Healthy Minds programme of study includes lessons that develop resilience competencies; self-awareness, compassion, flexible and realistic thinking, self-regulation, human connection, hope and optimism. The lesson learning outcomes focus on topics such as resilient relationships, decision making, navigating social media, the science of mental illness, and goal setting for the future.
Lucy Bailey, CEO and Founder of Bounce Forward, said:
“Congratulations on prioritising student mental health …the status is awarded to schools who successfully implement and maintain good quality teaching and learning to help develop healthy minds. This is a unique achievement that recognises your outstanding effort and commitment to developing the wellbeing of your students.
“It is a privilege to work with you and the team at Manor and across the Nene Education Trust to embed evidenced based lessons. You are an exemplar school with an outstanding approach to embedding Healthy Minds as part of school improvement planning and I am excited to see how the work progresses over the next few years.”
Healthy Minds is based on an extensive research project that was trialled in schools, tracking 10,000 children over five years. Following the project, feedback from teachers, students, psychologists and education professionals, has been used to develop the curriculum that has been implemented at Manor School.
Amy Bradshaw added:
“Achieving this status is an incredible achievement for Manor School and the Trust. We are thrilled to have been acknowledged by Lord Richard Layard, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, who spearheaded Healthy Minds. We were delighted to have Lord Layard’s seal of approval and receive his personal note which said …”Your school has committed to an approach that is proven to improve the lives of young people. Thank you for leading the way, and congratulations on achieving the Bounce Forward Healthy Minds Kitemark.”
For more information visit Manor School’s website. For more information about Bounce Forward visit their website.
