Improving pupil well-being is something the youth cabinet feel very strongly about. We know the difficulties young people face and the pressures we are under in schools, at home and with our friends, and it’s no wonder things can get too much for us to handle sometimes.
That’s why this week, as the Youth Mayor I attended the Pupil Well-being conference run by the Healthy Schools Network and the Vale of Glamorgan Council. It was a very interesting event with a lot of information about ways schools and health services can support young people.
During the morning session I learnt about the way the council uses SELFIE, a tool to measure pupil well-being and how the results are used to gain an overall picture of pupil well-being and identify those who may need extra support. There were also examples from Gladstone Primary school and Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg about the amazing work they do in their school such as the CWTCH Room and the Nurture Room.
During the afternoon I visited many stalls and made contact with organisations that will help the youth cabinet learn more about services available to us. We then had a presentation about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and watched the film Resilience which showed how ACES impact our lives.
I’m hoping to arrange for the youth cabinet to take a closer look at the SELFIE data which may help us in the work we do. After all, everyone wants young people to achieve the top grades but that’s only going to happen when young people want to learn and want to go school and are happy when they’re there.
