Dear all,
To support secondary schools taking part in, ‘Schools Go Orange’ a free pack is available, to include t-shirts, posters, and balloons to help create visibility, encourage participation, and generate a sense of shared purpose across the school community.
‘Schools Go Orange’, a one-day, whole-school mental health awareness initiative designed to support wellbeing across your school community. It can be completed on a day that suits your school calendar. It involves adopting a whole-school wellbeing approach, where students and staff engage in activities that promote mental health awareness, a sense of belonging andconnection, and positive conversations around wellbeing.
Attached is a short PowerPoint showcasing activities undertaken by schools who have previously participated: https://www.cycleagainstsuicide.com/schools-go-orange/ This is intended to offer ideas and inspiration only, there is no requirement to replicate these activities, and schools are free to design and deliver initiatives that best suit their students and staff.
Schools can also utilise our speaker stories from our HEASTRONG Programme. The following is Niall McNamee discussing gambling at our HEADSTRONG Summit: https://cas-elearning.com/courses/speaker-stories/
Participation in ‘Schools Go Orange’ also counts as an exercise for our HEADSTRONG Programme and towards your schools’ Ambassador status.
If you have any questions, would like to request a ‘Schools Go Orange’ pack, or need further information, please do not hesitate to come back to us.
Our evidence-based HEADSTRONG programme is free to all secondary school/ teachers.
Teachers have the flexibility to deliver our HEADSTRONG Programme in a variety of ways:
Peer-Led Model: Led by the Student HEADSTRONG Committee with teacher guidance, a group of students will take the lead on five awareness campaigns in a whole school approach manner, on topics contained within our HEADSTRONG Programme. To support this peer-to-peer model, a training video from our recent HEADSTRONG Summit is available on the platform for both teachers and the Student HEADSTRONG Committee. This training video provides an overview of the implementation process and can be completed in a single class. Additionally, the platform offers a wealth of resources, including speaker videos along with a library of ideas to inspire the Student HEADSTRONG Committees in each campaign.
Teacher-Led Model: Classroom activities led by teachers, including self-directed learning modules. This option allows students to work at their own pace, fostering critical thinking and personal reflection as they explore important themes around mental health, wellbeing, and resilience. .
Hybrid Model: A combination of both peer-led and teacher-led elements.
Additionally, our HEADSTRONG Programme provides an excellent avenue for students to fulfil the ‘Personal Skills’ requirement of the Gaisce Bronze Award and for secondary schools in Northern Ireland, towards the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Through our HEADSTRONG programme, students develop essential personal skills such as empathy, effective communication, leadership, and critical thinking.
A full overview of our HEADSTRONG programme is available at: https://cas-elearning.com/headstrong/
If not already registered, teachers can do so at: https://cas-elearning.com/register/
Kind regards,
Caroline Lafferty
Chief Executive Officer
Cycle Against Suicide