This week, you can look forward to:
A great case study from the brilliant team at Hethersett Academy, showcasing the impact of their Wellbeing Pathway in KS4.
Plus, we have a very exciting announcement about the upcoming MOVE WELL Conference on the Wirral, featuring some awesome speakers, including Rugby World Cup winner George Gregan.
Hethersett Academy Case Study
In an era where student mental health is more crucial than ever, schools are increasingly looking for innovative ways to support wellbeing through education. Hethersett Academy has taken this approach by transforming its Key Stage 4 PE curriculum with a RISE Up Wellbeing Pathway focused on movement for mental wellbeing and emotional literacy.
Hethersett Academy is a coeducational secondary school located in the village of Hethersett in Norfolk, UK. It is part of the Inspiration Trust and was one of the first schools Future Action worked in partnership with.
Their brilliant Head of PE, Nick Austin, talks us through the journey they have been on to transform the life chances of their young people through creating a Key Stage 4 Wellbeing pathway in PE. We will also hear from 5 of their super students about the impact this programme has had on them.
Intent
Nick explains ‘Students opting for the health and wellbeing route in PE report higher levels of low confidence, stress and anxiety, negative feelings from social media, lower mental health, lower body confidence and lower self-kindness demonstrating a need to cater for these students in PE.
We wanted to empower them with a toolbox of self-care strategies to encourage good mental wellbeing now and long after they have left us.
Therefore, we developed a health and wellbeing pathway as 1 of 4 that our young people could choose from at the start of each academic year from Year 9 onwards. The aim is that young people will get meaningful PE based on what they want to get from the subject whether that is improved health and wellbeing, develop technical skills in physical education, or develop their leadership skills etc.
Our original case study explains the original design process in more detail. You can read it here.
Implementation
Content has been delivered in the same way with the Mental Fitness Pyramid taught in year 9 for 1 weekly 60 minute lesson. In year 10 the focus is on healthy habits and accessing the 4 happiness chemicals. Both years focus on teaching the link between physical activity and mental wellbeing. All lessons are predominantly practical.
In addition, the PE team have accessed the Trauma Informed PE course and this has helped with awareness in how we talk to students from these groups. It coincided with some whole school trauma informed cpd, and was especially useful with our EAL students.
Impact
In January 2023 we reviewed our new models based (lower school) and personality pathway (upper school) PE curriculum with a specific focus on the impact that the RISE Up programme had on our students. This followed staff working with Future Action CPD for both the RISE Up course and Trauma Informed PE and implementing in years 10 and 11.
One year on and we are now able to track and reevaluate our progress through this review, which comes as part of a larger trust review of the PE curriculum. We found that
● The number of students reporting an enjoyment of lessons has increased from 69% to 83%
● The number of students improving their overall wellbeing through taking part in PE has increased from 26% in 2023 to 51% in 2024
We completed the School Wellbeing Scorecard to measure the progress we had made with our provision.
Pre Health and Wellbeing pathway introduced:
Current provision:
This led to an increase of 29% from an above average starting point.
I completed adapted versions of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale for my perceptions of student wellbeing for our Year 9 Health and Wellbeing pathway group:
As you can see, all areas improved which we are delighted with.
Student panel feedback on impact of our programme:
In January 2023, we created a case study on how the Hethersett programme had benefitted one of our students and her mum. You can read that blog here.
This time we wanted to hear more student voices about how the programme had impacted them and their wellbeing.
We sat down with 5 awesome students, 2 from Year 9 and 3 from Year 10 to find out their thoughts about the programme in PE.
Izzy
‘We really liked having the choice. It’s less judgemental being around like minded students who want to get the same outcomes from their PE lessons.
I enjoy the social aspect and like being physically active in a more enjoyable way. I felt safer, the atmosphere is really nice.
I especially liked yoga and found that when I was stressed outside of PE, I would do some meditation to help calm me.’
Amelia
‘I found the communication skills really useful for mixing more with other students who weren’t my close friends. It has given me more confidence and helped me make new friends. It has helped with my feeling of belonging within the school.
We have a wide range of clubs to help us.’
Sofia
‘I found PE overwhelming before so it was nice to pick a pathway where I felt more comfortable in. I always feel included and like all of the activities.
I especially enjoyed social badminton where we would rally and then ask each other questions about our wellbeing based on questions on the whiteboard. We rotate round between playing and chatting to your friends about the answers.
The atmosphere in the classroom transfers to your personal emotions and views on the teachers. That’s what makes our PE and Geography teachers so approachable.’
Isabella
‘It has been great to combine movement with friendship. PE teachers spend more social time with us and are chatty and friendly. We still learn lots of things but it creates an atmosphere of trust.’
Eve
‘The wellbeing pathway helped with my engagement in PE, it took away the intimidation factor so I could engage in the activities and helped me feel better mentally.
Our teachers are very nice. Students in our group go to our PE teachers when we are having problems outside of PE.
We had a friendship issue as a group, we managed to come together and use the worries as a positive technique to solve the problem together.’
From the comments, we are pleased that students are seeing the benefits of the programme and feel safe in PE with great relationships with their teachers. It is great that we are able to contribute to the excellent wider mental health provision in the Academy brilliantly led by Claire Tilbury.
The Norfolk RISE Up programme has helped us improve engagement, mental health and the personal development of our young people and fitted perfectly into what we were wanting to build with the personality pathways to create great outcomes for our young people.
What next?
Moving forward, we will have:
○ Further staff CPD/meeting time to refine delivery.
○ A weekly or half termly focus on a specific concept such as self-confidence.
○ Develop student feedback to see how we can further enhance the programme to benefit all of our young people.'
Students from Hethersett took part in the Norfolk CC RISE Up celebration event this summer. You can see their awesome students and brilliant teacher Mrs Hall in this video here:
Thank You Inspirational Teachers
At Future Action, we want to thank the brilliant PE team at Hethersett who go above and beyond for their young people every single day. They are fantastic role models and we love partnering with them and many similar teachers across the country who show what can be possible in a post-lockdown education world.
We would also like to thank Norfolk County Council for funding our programmes for all secondary and special schools in Norfolk to protect vital school budgets.
If you are a teacher in a Norfolk School and would like to access our RISE Up Wellbeing or Trauma Informed PE courses then please get in touch here.
Do you want to improve your students' wellbeing?
Take the first steps here by completing our 'School Wellbeing Scorecard here.
This action will help you map your school's wellbeing provision in 3 minutes and identify the key areas to focus on for your setting.
You will receive a personalised report and a complimentary login to our taster ‘RISE Up’ course. Here you will be able to experience Step 1 and 2 of our 9 Step RISE Up teacher training course.
An Opportunity For Colleagues in the North West
We are delighted to announce that we will be presenting at the upcoming MOVE WELL Conference on Friday, 29th November 2024, hosted by Clare Mount Specialist Sports College, based on the Wirral, in partnership with KO8, PTP, Future Action, and the Youth Sport Trust Well Schools Collective.
In a time when being able to move well is more important than ever, this conference will focus on how movement supports physical, social, and emotional health.
The conference will feature several inspirational speakers, including Rugby World Cup winner George Gregan, who will deliver talks and workshops throughout the day.
We would love for you to join us, but book quickly as there are limited places for what is going to be a brilliant day! Click here to see the flyer and secure your spot.
Join our waiting list
We offer a range of services from courses, consultancy, keynote speaking and our book 'Time to RISE Up'.
To express an interest in exploring building a partnership with us, join our waiting list here:
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Have a brilliant week and thank you for all you do for your young people.
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