Unique Life-Skills Programme Already Proving Beneficial at Halfway Stage

Birkenhead Sixth Form College’s unique new life-skills programme for all first year students has reached the halfway point of its six-week duration, and students are already feeling the benefits.

Devised by Psychology experts and teachers Roy Owen, Amanda Hoey and Deputy Principal Mike Kilbride, ‘BePART’ (Be Positive, Ambitious, Resilient, Thoughtful) is the product of scientific research and methods to tackle the issue of mental health and wellbeing in teenagers, which is nationally recognised as a growing problem.

Students who joined the College in September have received three weekly sessions so far, focusing on the importance of sleep & diet, challenging negative thoughts and a class on Mindfulness – a meditation technique which has been proven to help with young people’s academic performance and general mental wellbeing.

Liverpool John Moores University are also involved in the programme, helping to analyse data from a project that the Faculty for Education’s Professor David Putwain called ‘innovative and forward-thinking’.

Eleanor Adams started at the College last month, having completed her GCSEs at Pensby High School.

Now studying Biology, Chemistry, English Literature and Maths in her first year, 16-year-old Eleanor said of her BePART experience so far: “I’ve found it really therapeutic. It’s helped me with stress levels and eating habits – I’m much more aware of what I consume. I’ve struggled with anxiety before, especially around exam time, but this has made me take a step back and assess what I’m doing which makes things a lot easier and calmer.”

Eleanor highlighted that her sleeping habits have been measurably improved already, and what she found out from her fellow students about their lifestyles surprised her: “It’s been amazing to discover that some people my age are only getting four hours sleep a night or less, and not looking after themselves. Eating more healthily and being more aware of the importance of sleep has meant that I’ve gone from getting six hours sleep a night to eight.

“This kind of programme is so important. You may have the ability to get good grades but you’re never going to achieve that if you’re burnt out.”

Fellow first year, Abigail Fowler, has also felt the benefits of the programme, saying: “I found the parts about being positive really helpful. I can be a bit negative sometimes and it really made me think about changing my outlook. I find myself looking at things in a different light and from different angles.”

Abigail, from Ellesmere Port, explained that the sessions are helping her outside of College too: “I’ve got a part-time job with a caterer and it can be really stressful at times. BePART has helped reduce the stress by making me just take a step back and look at things from a calm and practical viewpoint.”

She concluded: “At this point, we’re all going through so many different things in our lives, whether it’s College, work, exams – the sessions have been a nice break from it all, to be honest. It’s relieved the pressures and it’s a good time to learn something about yourself, which can be difficult when so much is going on.”