On 23rd October, Worktree delivered a day of ‘Wellbeing WorkOut’ sessions for Year 9 students at The Hazeley Academy.

Eight groups of approximately 30 students participated in a one-hour carousel of peer conversations about wellbeing.  Each conversation was preceded by a screen statistic on a related issue – sleep, social media, eating, exercise, loneliness, bullying, exams and kindness – presented in a gameshow-style quiz format. Students were then prompted to ask questions about that issue in their conversations. The aim was to share ideas on managing wellbeing and to develop ways supportive peer relationships in the process.

“The sessions  were excellent and really brought something special to the day with our year 10 students!,” said Lesley McKenzie, Mental Health Lead at The Hazeley.

In a short student questionnaire immediately after the event, students gave the following scores:

• 5.1 out of 10 for ‘The session helped me a lot’
• 4.7 out of 10 for ‘I now feel less anxious’
• 5.3 out of 10 for ‘I now feel more positive about my life’.

Some of the student’s written comments:

• I got to talk to different people about things that I don’t usually talk about
• I learned you may have more in common with others than you think
• I learned I’m not afraid and my lifestyle is actually like other people’s, meaning I’m doing the right thing and making the right decisions
• I felt uncomfortable.  I hated it
• I know that I don’t have to be scared of not being active any more
• Now I know people will listen to me
• I can be more social
• I learned how kind and interested people are
• I liked I got to get out of my comfort zone
• I learned that people aren’t that scary
• I liked that activities we did and the way you made it so we talked to everyone.

Some of the actions students set for themselves (on the Student Card at the end of the session):

• Get more sleep.  Eat healthier
• Spend more time with people who care about me
• I’m going to go to my cousin and talk to her because I haven’t talked to her in ages

Worktree plans to develop ‘Wellbeing WorkOut’ further and is currently offering it to students in all secondary school year groups. If you are interested to find out more, contact tom.bulman@worktree.org, tel 07962 838685.