As schools and colleges reopen across the UK, many young people and teaching staff may be experiencing heightened levels of anxiety and fear. In already uncertain times, the transition from lockdown back to school or college is another new challenge that many will face.   

Young people have experienced a period of enormous change and uncertainty with the sudden and unexpected closure of schools, with little opportunity to say goodbye to friends and teachers and very little time to adapt to a new way of life under lockdown. Some will reintegrate back into education easily, but others will need more support to build their resilience to cope with the constant changes and uncertainty. 

Teaching staff have had to adapt quickly to remote teaching and may also be experiencing certain levels of anxiety about returning to school or college, where new systems of control will be in place to ensure the environment is safe. They may also be concerned about how they can best support young people during these unprecedented times full of uncertainty and change. 

It’s a critical time to support the mental health and well-being of young people and teaching staff as they navigate the new realities of life post lockdown and back in education. 

Mental Health UK wants to support during this period by providing teaching staff with free online resilience training. The training is based on its young people’s programme, Bloom, which is delivered in schools and colleges across the UK. Bloom equips young people aged 14 to 18 with the tools and knowledge to maintain their mental health through life’s transitions, both now and in the future. To gain an understanding of the workshop content, watch a series of short video animations based on the topic workshops. 

This online training complements the original eight-week co-delivery workshops delivered face-to-face in classrooms, but as schools are preparing for a challenging autumn 2020 term, Mental Health UK wants to be part of the solution by reaching as many teachers and young people as possible. After the training, its evidence-based Bloom resources will be sent to the participating school or college, allowing them to facilitate the resilience sessions in the classroom. The Mental Health UK team will be available to support if there are any questions about the delivery. For more information, visit https://mentalhealth-uk.org/bloom-online-teacher-training/.

If you have any further questions, email schools@mentalhealth-uk.org. or colleges@mentalhealth-uk.org