Last week, Year 13 & 14 pupils kicked off the Mental Health Ambassadors Launch Week 2018 here in the Belfast Boys’ Model School. Throughout the week a number of special assemblies took place along with form class activities produced by the Mental Health Ambassadors Team.
The programme which is the latest pastoral development for the Belfast Boys’ Model School comes just days after the re-launch of our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors and recent acknowledgement from the Department of Education with the Derrytrasna Pastoral Care Award in May. The new team known as the “Mental Health Ambassadors” (MHA) have been in the planning since last November and sat a tough interview and application process to be part of the team.
The Mental Ambassador can provide support, advice and information on mental health plus so much more. Throughout the year, they will be running many more events to profile positive mental health and they will play an active role in school working closely with the Senior Leadership Team and School Council.
Mrs Montgomery has been a champion for the programme since it was discussed last year and was even involved in choosing the Ambassadors.
The programme was setup by Deputy Head Boy Lewis Robinson, who was inspired to make a change following a rapid increase in the mental health rates here in North Belfast. Now, he is preparing to take it beyond the Belfast Boys’ Model School.
Last Year the Belfast Boys’ Model School helped launch a Mental Health app, MindSight with Year 13 pupils and Young Enterprise. We also became the first school to host an Inspiration Point which allows pupils, parents, teachers and the community around us to receive information on a regular basis about topical mental health issues. The Ambassadors joining our already incredible support network have each demonstrated care, compassion, empathy and respect for others. Pupils can be sure there is always someone to listen. The MHA will be attending form classes at least once a week with the regular pastoral teams’ and can be found in their MHA hoodies or in the H.U.B at lunchtime.
