Our focus at BISS is on the whole child, not only our students’ academic success. Good mental health and wellbeing are paramount, as they can impact every area of a student’s development and happiness. As an international school, we are also mindful of the extra layer of care that comes with helping children settle into a new school, especially in a new country. We were delighted to welcome The Local to BISS to interview students and staff on some of the ways we work to empower students to help each other, and themselves, with mental health and wellbeing.
One of those ways is the Peer Education Project (PEP). PEP aims to get older students talking to younger students about mental health through a series of workshops, thereby creating awareness and removing barriers to getting support. As PEP is a student-led initiative, it felt only right that students took the lead in talking to The Local about it!
Riley (Year 12), and Kyle and Jason (Year 7), were more than happy to tell The Local about their experiences on both sides of the project and how they’ve grown through the process. Above all else, It has certainly has got them talking about mental health, even at home. As Kyle points out, “I learned important things and my parents were also pleased that we were starting conversations about mental wellbeing at our age.” Read more in the full article here.
Lucy Lindgren, History Teacher and PEP Lead, couldn’t be more enthusiastic about the added values of the project. “Not only does it create awareness about mental health and get conversations started, but it also brings students together and encourages connections between different year groups. We had two new Year 12 students at the start of PEP this year, and it definitely helped them settle in.”
This was our second year doing PEP at BISS, and we look forward to seeing it develop in the years to come. It is also a very positive reminder of the importance of student empowerment in education today.
Read about how BISS champions mindfulness across all age groups in the full article here.
