Supporting young people’s mental health

This follows a review of services by a government taskforce, which has found that too many young people are not getting the help they need. The reality is that as many as one in 10 five-to-16-year-olds has a mental disorder in the UK.

We’re very proud of our former pupil Annie Hart, who is currently campaigning for an increase of support for young people with mental health difficulties. Her campaign is being led via the charity, Young Minds, for whom she is an Activist. You can read her story and message in the Sunday Times, 15th March.

Annie joined Farlington after her own struggle at age 13. We put a structured programme in place to give her the additional support she needed and was lacking. Annie is one of our highest performing alumnae having achieved 9 As / A*s at GCSE and is a credit to the school.

At Farlington, we believe that the highest standard of pastoral care is fundamental to both academic achievement and personal development. We pride ourselves on offering our students tailored support to meet their independent needs as they progress through their school career.

In addition to individual support, we also build awareness of such issues into our life skills programme. This week, we are running a mindfulness workshop for our Sixth Form students, which will be facilitated by our school nurse, Collette Parsons, and school counselor, Jane Cook.

In the coming months, we also plan to introduce sessions on dealing with stress during exam periods.

This level of support is central to the ethos and culture of Farlington and will continue to be a focus as we welcome new students to our school.

We continue to encourage Annie in her work for Young Minds, as we, too, believe that more needs to be done to raise the standard of care for young people at such a crucial time in their lives.

Report contributed by Farlington School.