College Launches Unique Life Skills Programme For All New Students

Birkenhead Sixth Form College has launched a unique life-skills programme aimed at tackling the increasingly recognised issue of mental health and wellbeing.

The College is implementing a ground-breaking six week scheme for all its 700 new first year students, which will include sessions on challenging negative thoughts, the importance of sleep and diet and using gratitude to build resilience.

The ‘BePART’ programme, which stands for being positive, ambitious, resilient and thoughtful, is borne out of scientific research, expert psychology and the practice of Mindfulness, which has been proven to improve academic performance and mental wellbeing in students across the country.

With a recent Department of Education study suggesting that, despite ‘worsening’ mental health in teenage girls, initiatives to combat such issues are difficult to identify, Birkenhead Sixth Form College’s ‘BePART’ is a direct, structured and pragmatic response.

Liverpool John Moores University is also involved in the scheme, assisting in research and evaluation of the impact of ‘BePART’.

Former College student and internationally decorated gymnast, Beth Tweddle MBE, has added her endorsement for the scheme.

 

Ms Tweddle, an Olympic medallist and World Champion who now works with assisting children in sport, said: “It’s not just about teaching kids the specific subjects, it’s about teaching them to be well-rounded people and integrate that into everyday life. In my own experience in gymnastics, whether learning or teaching, winning medals is not the sole focus; it can be all the life skills involved, whether that’s something simple like time management, or it’s motivation and setting goals or dealing with disappointment.”

Guest speaker at the Class of 2016’s Graduation Ceremony, Ms Tweddle continued: “People tend to naturally pick up on other people’s strengths and only identity their own weaknesses. They can think that they can’t do this or can’t do that, but their best friend is brilliant at it. Learning to appreciate your own strengths while accepting your weaknesses and improving them where you can gives you the best chance of succeeding.”

She concluded: “The staff at the College were always so supportive with me. I was very lucky to have a great support network at home too, but this scheme can only go to help students from any walk of life.”

Professor and psychologist, Dave Putwain, from the John Moores Faculty of Education said: “I am delighted to be involved with the BePART programme. Birkenhead Sixth Form College has devised an innovative and forward-thinking approach, designed to improve the physical and emotional wellbeing of their students. My role will be to help the College use data to analyse the impact of the programme and how it can be improved in the future.”

 

Principal Kathryn Podmore said: “We are proud to be at the forefront of combatting such an important issue that any student from any background can face. The scheme is entirely the product of scientific work by College staff:  Psychology teacher and expert in the area, Roy Owen, and fellow psychologist, Deputy Principal Mike Kilbride, have tirelessly led our efforts to ensure that every aspect of the programme has its basis in robust research and methods.”

The Principal continued: “The welfare of our students is of the highest priority and, with BePART’s grounding in proven science, we are confident that the programme will lead to improving young people’s lives both in their academic work and outside of the College. We are in the top 10% in the country for A Level provision and this scheme is yet more proof of what our specialist Sixth Form can offer.”