Students at Tiverton High School were visited by top-flight Paralympian David Hill earlier this month as the school launched its ‘Active in Mind’ scheme. The six-week scheme is a student-led intervention to create an ethos where exercise and mindfulness sessions will help to promote better physical and mental wellbeing throughout the school.
David, Paralympian in swimming and triathlon, British champion and both world and European medallist, visited the school to train six ‘Young Mental Health Champions’ – Joe Varndell, Ollie Cherry, Harvey Short, Esther Norton, Gracie Musgrove and Emily Snow. The students undertook advanced training in developing a range of physical group activities and individual mindfulness strategies to improve mental wellbeing and reduce stress and anxiety.
The students will be mentored by David throughout the duration of the project and will form a core ‘nurture group’ for the school where fellow students can receive peer-to-peer support with their mental health. Nicola Lane, Assistant Head of student wellbeing at Tiverton High School, said: “We are delighted to welcome David to our school for the launch of the Active in Mind scheme.
“This initiative will provide the students with a fantastic skillset for improving their physical health and mental wellbeing and encourages a school-wide environment of speaking up if someone feels that they need additional support.”
