It’s always refreshing to hear from students about wellbeing initiatives in their school, and this podcast episode is no exception.

In this 2 part interview, we firstly hear from pupils at Ainthorpe Primary, along with a member of their senior leadership team, who tell us about their experience of using a Lottery funded programme called Headstart.

The students received support and training to enable them to approach staff with a set of made up scenarios, and then to feedback on whether they felt the responses they received were appropriate and helpful. With open, honest dialogue, lessons were learned, improvements were made, and the wellbeing of the whole school was enriched.

We also hear from Gail Teasdale, Headstart Programme Manager in Hull, about the strategy behind the initiative and its aim to move schools away from a simple tick box exercise on the subject of mental health, towards a collaboration between staff and pupils in which the student voice plays an integral part.

Our accompanying handouts are to help you initiate wellbeing teams and activities in your school. Feel free to download and use them to suit your needs.

Episode 6 is also on the theme of Student Leadership, this time in a secondary school setting and is released together with episode 5.