Primary and secondary school

Summer Project

The NSPCC reports that there is an increase in family relationship issues, such as financial worries, young people being locked out of their family home, and an increase in arguments, during the summer holidays. Therefore,
One-Eighty has created and developed a programme aimed at supporting young people over the summer holidays which is specifically aimed at those who have made an improvement over the last academic year, but may be at risk of losing momentum in their success while they are not attending school during this period.

This project allows them to maintain an educational focus, by participating in two educational trips, followed by two 1:1 sessions with a designated key worker. Case Leads have regular check-ins with the family prior to and following sessions, offering support to keep the summer holiday as stable as possible for the young person. At the end of the project, a full report of achievements is provided for the referrer – identifying where targets have been met and key concerns raised.

Transition Summer Project

The Summer Project has been further developed to have an additional element of support for children we care for who are transitioning into Secondary School following the summer holidays. Following feedback and research, it was identified that this is a particularly challenging time for carers, young people, and social workers (in addition to other supporting professionals) to maintain stability for the young person over this holiday period. 

The programme’s foundations are based on the Summer Project, however One-Eighty also provide an additional two 1:1 sessions (before the end of their year 6 summer term, and at the beginning of their year 7 autumn term) to enable a smooth and supportive transition. The focus of these sessions are aimed at promoting and supporting a positive understanding, adaptation, and start to a new learning environment, giving them consistency with an agency via their Case Lead within One-Eighty. 

Primary school

Make Me Smile

Make Me Smile is a peer-to-peer mentoring mental health awareness project which offers a space for young people to develop a basic understanding of mental health and learn strategies to manage their worries. Through storytelling and creative exploration, the class are encouraged to talk openly in a safe environment; to share their own strategies and recognise the support networks around them, to develop their knowledge, and to implement strategies to create a supportive school community. The pupils then make a creative face to help them remember to look after their own mental health and make themselves smile again.

All children have times that are challenging and their emotions take over, stopping them from moving on through their day. During a 1-hour session with year 6’s, Make Me Smile aims to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. The session helps children to consider how mental health might affect those around them as well as themselves, and offers them strategies of how to cope with these challenges. 

Make Me Smile is a primary school based project, delivered by One-Eighty to year 6 students, who then facilitate a peer-to-peer session to year 3 students. This promotes an environment of sharing coping strategies throughout the school. Year 6 students are also encouraged to volunteer to become mental health awareness ambassadors to help create understanding, a whole school awareness and a support network. Early mental health awareness helps young people develop coping strategies that they can use later in life. The project comes at a crucial time for the year 6 students, who have a range of different challenges ahead.

Following the sessions, the school is encouraged to have a Make Me Smile display of the faces the children have created. A whole school ‘Make Me Smile day’ is used as a follow-up to help children feel more empowered and comfortable discussing mental health issues. They share their new skills and learning throughout the school and create a sense of peer-to-peer support. Children are encouraged to bring in £1 to wear their favourite outfit for the day – this money is used to fund the project and for the school to reinvest in mental health resources.

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