Youth-led conference for Anti-Bullying Week 2010
Thanks to Targeted Mental Health in Schools (TaMHS), Watford & District YMCA secured funding to develop a youth-led conference to provide an opportunity for young people to discuss emotional health and wellbeing and explore a wide range of creative, fun and innovative techniques they can use to:
This free conference was held in Watford on November 17th 2010 – during Anti-Bullying Week - and was open to year 6 & 7 students from both mainstream and special education; the young people on the conference committee felt that if they had received extra support at this age around confidence and self esteem they might not have struggled so much later on. The theme of the conference was Believe to Achieve/Fake it ‘til you make it.
Programme for the day
A wide range of workshops provided by local experts were available including sessions on fitness and physical health, body image, reading body language, managing anger, relaxation, and even a session about online safety on Facebook. We would like to say a huge thank you to all the organisations that contributed:
The keynote speech was made by Lu Corfield, an up and coming actress and writer. Lu spoke about her personal experiences of overcoming confidence and self esteem issues and demonstrated to the audience how they can use performance in their every day lives to present themselves more confidently and, in time, to transform that ‘pretend’ confidence into the real thing.
Lu’s speech made a significant impact and many young people cited this part of the day as their personal highlight. Lu ended up staying behind to sign loads of autographs, and while the young people tried very hard to wheedle secrets relating to the EastEnders Christmas story line out of her – Lu is appearing in the Christmas episodes as PC Annie Young – Lu was giving nothing away! Though the young people’s negotiation and influencing skills were very impressive indeed.
All participants received a goody bag to help them remember key messages from the day.
Feedback
Following the event, we received lots of terrific feedback from the young people and their schools. Here’s a small selection:
“I wanted to pass on our appreciation of the 'I feel' conference held yesterday. After a tricky start for our pupils (who were dropped at the YMCA and had quite a walk to the banqueting suite!) they returned to school very positive having had a wonderful day. The members of staff who accompanied them were full of praise for the organisation and were particularly pleased that our pupils had integrated so well and responded to the unaccustomed luxury of the surroundings!”
Jane Deller, Head of Year 7, Garston Manor Special School
“Thankyou again so much - the children were thrilled with the visit-and felt very grown up-they particularly enjoyed the special biscuits they were given from you aswell! The staff that were there were all so positive about the event itself. THANK YOU very much. If you have any other events lined up for schools please bear us in mind”
Peter McEntee, Headteacher, Chater Junior School
“Well done for yesterday: very impressive and the kids were definitely enjoying themselves.”
Deborah Sheppard, Healthy Schools Adviser – Mental Health and Wellbeing & TaMHS Coordinator
“I learnt how to relax and be calm. I learnt how to keep yourself from getting angry. I learnt how to keep fit. I learnt how to keep from getting stressed. I learnt how to be confident. I am going to try and be a lot more confident and not shy.”
Year 6 student, Chater Junior School
“(I learnt) if you feel angry you must relax to calm down. If you want to say something to someone you should make eye contact. If you want to say something exciting say it excitedly. Don’t take much notice of what people say about you. Be confident. I will talk to my family about my problems.”
Year 6 student, Chater Junior School
“(I learnt) to believe in myself. Confidence is one of your strongest emotions. Fake it, make it. If you don’t have any confidence just fake it eventually you will make it. I will now try and be more confident”
Year 6 student, Chater Junior School
Next steps
We will now develop a full evaluation of the project to see what can be learned from the process and the outcomes. The schools are very keen for us to repeat a similar event next year and we will now work hard to raise the funds to do this. Many thanks to TaMHS and Deborah Sheppard from Herts County Council for providing funding for this year’s event.
What is i:Feel?
i:Feel is a programme of work that aims to help young people learn how to talk about and manage their feelings positively; this is based on the principles of Protective Behaviours:
What does youth-led mean?
A youth-led conference is an event that has been designed by young people for young people. A small group of volunteers aged 16 – 25 has been responsible for planning and running the i:Feel conference; the group includes young people with firsthand experience of some of the issues explored in the programme.
Contact Julia Collar, Head of Youth Development for more information: JuliaCollar@Watfordymca.com