This is an example of how I have supported pupils aged 11-16 at a local high school.

The pupils are members of the Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) within the school and receive extra support for developmental language delay, dyslexia, autism and anxiety.

My role is to support their well-being through the use of holistic methods and help them to develop a toolbox of techniques that they can begin to use independently.

Over the past couple of weeks we have been exploring affirmations, we began with affirmations inspired by the Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week theme ‘My Voice Matters’.

We discussed how affirmations work… By influencing the way we think about things
✨We thought about how the way we think impacts the way we feel…
✨And how the way we feel impacts the actions we take
✨How the actions we take repeatedly become habits
✨And how our habits can define the kind of person we become

The pupils started by organising the statements I provided according to how true they felt for them – often true, sometimes true, rarely true. Then they chose a couple they would like to feel truer for them.

We discussed how and when these statements being true for them would improve their lives and what impact it would have if it were true for them.

Then they created their own affirmations to support situations that they found challenging; some further work included using a pack of affirmation cards to inspire further affirmations.