Hello – My name is Emily and for those of you who do not know me I am a Youth Worker within the Cup-O-T team. I work alongside Occupational Therapists within the community, schools and internal programmes to ensure support for young people is accessible, approachable and attainable.
On this occasion I’d like to speak of the work, importance and impact of Cup-O-T’s presence in local Breckland Schools, funded through Breckland Youth Advisory Board and Norfolk County Council to provide support for young people in their education environment.
A moment of reflection
Firstly, let me ask you this – as a teenager (either now or when you were younger) how did you feel at school?
Take a moment to reflect on this.
Looking back, what do you wish you could have been taught in school?
For many people, the subject and memories of school can be a difficult conversation.
We often find that life trauma and difficult problematic occasions coincide with our time at school. These recollections, later down the line in life can become upsetting when thinking and looking back on child and adolescent periods.
There’s no expression like “they don’t teach you that in school!” – I’m sure we can all relate too in some aspects of our lives.
Difficult transitions to adulthood can contribute to poor mental health and poor emotional well-being – conditions which are affecting more and more individuals, including many of the thousands of young people now who are struggling in schools today; these “Young People” happen to be our adults of tomorrow and now more than ever need direction, encouragement and support.
How Cup-O-T can help:
Cup-O-T offers an educational and accessible mental health well-being drop-in, once a week, that is flexible to the school and a young person’s needs, interests, questions and concerns.
During drop in we have our 6 main focus points of conversation including:
- Safety and Security online
- Identity – this is me!
- Overcoming anxiety and stress
- The power of nature
- Connecting with the community and your needs
- Mental Health and wellbeing – physical, emotional and psychological – open subject.
But, no topic is frowned upon, left at home, swept under the carpet or belittled – all conversations matter and anything can be approached in confidence.
Building constructive, supportive and inspiring relationships with young people supports the core curriculum being achieved alongside covering a range of life topics (which in my opinion are just as important!).
By increasing a young person’s motivation, confidence and comfort in their environment/subject, the self identity of a young person soars and an individual student is likely to perform better in school, maintaining not only high attendance levels but happiness too!
The schools are happy and so are the students.
Within school we listen to what young people say, we welcome opinions and outlandish ideas. We view the school from a pupil’s perspective and we encourage activities and conversations that provoke thought and question the objective!
Cup-O-T’s Holistic Approach
As a result of Cup-O-T’s holistic approach to young people they laugh, reflect, share their voices, debate, open up, expose themselves and return, free of choice for more. Cup-O-T creates a school environment that young people see differently – they want to be there, they want to learn.
In the current climate, for many young people, youth work is the vital ingredient that makes a world of difference. Youth Work enables young people to feel seen, heard and allows them to cope, learn and thrive against the backdrop of the pressures that school settings can stir.
Cup-O-T hopes to remain a supportive role for young people in the school environment, broadening our work into other regions of the county and working hand in hand with teachers, educators and tutors to support the wellbeing of all students at a critical time in their development – Curriculum for Life.
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