“Within MHST Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly I have offered the Decider Skills training as part of a project called the Wellbeing Ambassadors.
The mental health lead in the primary schools we work in selects a small group of children (usually not more than 10 children) from Year 5 to become Wellbeing Ambassadors for the school. This group of children are then trained in the Decider Skills over 4 weeks. On completion of the Decider skills course, they receive a certificate and a wellbeing ambassadors lanyard, which they love. After this they are supported to roll out the Decider Skills in their schools, based on the needs/preferences of the school.
Ways that the children and young people have done this include:
- Making a Decider Skills film on their iPads, now featured on the Decider website (The Five Islands Academy, Isles of Scilly)
- Inviting parents into school for the children to collectively deliver a Decider Skills information session (St Levan Primary School, Cornwall)
- Running workshops for their peers in class (St Levan Primary School, Cornwall)
- Explaining to teaching staff all about the Decider skills in a staff meeting (The Five Islands Academy, Isles of Scilly)
- Delivering Decider assemblies to all pupils and staff every Friday across a school term with different children delivering 2 skills a week (St Buryan Academy Primary school, Cornwall)
Some of the schools have really embraced this scheme and the children have done other things in their roles such as attending Mental Health (MH)/wellbeing book launches, celebrating national MH events, and even putting up a staff wellbeing board.”
Sarah Sejahtera, Children's Wellbeing Practitioner, MHST Cornwall
Click here to watch the video created by young people, supported by MHST Cornwall, about The Decider Skills.