The Teenage Boys Mental Wellbeing and Aspirations Programme with Harton Academy

In February, we began another one of our wellbeing and aspirations programmes, this time at Harton Academy with year 10 boys. This programme involves up to 10 students selected by their school to take part in a 12-week project aimed at raising their self-esteem and employability. The programmes are group-based, designed to build relationships and develop their confidence in their own abilities, both inside and outside of school. We deliver a series of workshops and activities, before taking the students on a trip which includes an aspirational career location to gain an insight into the workplace, and an activity to put their newly acquired skills and self-belief into practice.

Year 10 Boys Harton Academy

The boys were very open and honest from the start about their feelings and experiences, throwing themselves into the programme to get the most out of it. From the beginning, it was established that academic stress, worries and complex family dynamics were key themes within the group. Therefore, some of the sessions that we covered were unhelpful thinking patterns, family relationships and self-esteem. Since the majority of the group also spent a lot of time on online games, sleep and healthy eating were additional sessions as most of the boys admitted to not eating nutritious meals and sleeping very little. We also supported the students to think about their future careers by helping them to create CVs, consider their inspirations, set goals and think about what a model employee looks like.

JUMP Visit

From the start, it was established that most of the boys had similar interests in online gaming and computing, dreaming of careers in IT, game development and web design. Therefore, the programme culminated in a trip to JUMP, a Newcastle-based creative agency, covering design, development and marketing. The visit included a fabulous presentation from Andy, Kasey and Joe, followed by the chance for the boys to ask questions which they jumped at the chance to. Many of the boys were unaware that there were so many jobs related to IT, and left feeling inspired to continue working at their IT and coding skills.

Their feedback included;

“I learned that things are much more than they seem, such as marketing being more than creating an ad and hoping people see it.”

“I learned that you don’t need every skill a job asks for and that there are more jobs than you think in just one company.”

“I have realised that what you enjoy can lead into a job, for example drawing comic books can lead to a design job.”

“I found it interesting to learn about different advert techniques.”

“I learned how much time and teamwork it takes to create something.”

Team-building Activity

The chosen team-building activity by the boys was go-karting at TeamSport. The boys loved the competitive nature of the activity and found it a great experience to build on their new-found friendships. Their increase in confidence was evident as many of them had never been go-karting before but they thoroughly enjoyed it.

“I enjoyed go-karting, it helped my bonds with others increase.”

“I enjoyed go-karting because it allowed me to build up communication and team-building skills.”

“I enjoyed go karting, especially winning! I also enjoyed the food and relaxing outside of school.”

Overall, the programme was a real success story. All the boys recommended it and agreed that they would talk about their emotions more now. Due to the size of the school, despite some of the boys having gone through primary and secondary education together, a lot of them were not close friends and did not know much about one another. Therefore, a key highlight and success of the project was that they became much closer as a group and realised they shared experiences and interests. Furthermore, they mentioned often feeling forgotten about in the school due to how many other students were in their year. Therefore, the boys felt appreciative and lucky to have been selected for the project and had increased confidence as a result.

Their reflections included;

“I’ve learnt how to live healthier. It has been helpful to learn what to do when I’m down.”

“I feel more confident talking in front of a class now as I realise we are all the same.”

“I feel more confident to act as myself since I would usually be embarrassed to just be myself.”

“Creating my CV has helped me to feel more prepared for jobs and helped me manage and remember what I have done.”

“I feel I don’t have to get things right first time, I can try as many times as I want to get things right, it is okay to fail.”

“I’ve started to help my mam more around the house, she thought I was ill when I took the bins out!”

“I feel more confident in groups of 10 or 15 and meeting new people.”

“Everyone should get to do this programme, it was so much fun.”

“I feel more confident around people who I think will judge me and not taking things to heart as much.”

“The sleep hygiene topic has helped me realise how bad my sleep schedule is, and I have been trying to improve it. I used to get between 4-6 hours’ sleep at night, now I get 6-7 hours which makes me less tired and more confident in myself. I feel more confident in social settings as I feel less tried compared to a few weeks ago.”

We want to say a huge thank you to Andy, Kasey and Joe at JUMP for giving up their time to inspire the students and answer their questions. Plus, to Kirstine Walker at Harton Academy for being supportive of the programme.