Note to self: It’s okay to not be okay

Anyone feeling ‘not ok’ should ask for help.

I work in a secondary, all boys’ school, and as staff we are all conscious of the need to raise the topic of mental health with all our pupils and there is a very good reason for this.

The media room is named after a young man who took his own life, aged 17 in 2014, and this is a stark reminder of the need to talk about mental health within the school environment.

The statistics of male suicide are worrying. In the UK, suicide is the highest cause of death among men under the age 45.

Male rates are higher than female suicide rates, and one reason for this is that men are less likely to ask for help or express depressive or suicidal feelings.

We need to encourage young people to talk about their feelings, which is the reason the #HelloYellow campaign was launched in 2017.

Organised by mental health charity, Young Minds, their mission is to, “make sure all young people get the best possible mental health support and have the resilience to overcome life’s challenges”

In a previous year, in school I decided to get staff on board and make a video to support #HelloYellow.

Now we certainly won’t win an Oscar for this performance, however I’m quite proud of the message we delivered to all our pupils in assembly, and we’ve decided to show this video again on Wednesday.

If you’d like to check it out and maybe even share it, please feel free:

For further information on Young Minds and #HellowYellow check out the website here.

About our Community Expert

Jo Lane
Head of Careers at The Windsor Boys’ School

Combining her business experience with an ability to engage KS4&5 pupils in the classroom has enabled Jo to specialise in delivering learning experiences linked to the ‘real world’.

An advocate of apprenticeships as an alternative to the traditional university route, Jo states her greatest job satisfaction has come from helping pupils into apprenticeship roles and seeing them thrive.