Paving the way for Mental Health support in schools

We are very proud that The King’s School Chester has one again been recognised for its sector-leading approach to pupil mental health support.

Overseen by Deputy Head of Sixth Form, Lee Parkes, our peer-led Mental Fitness Ambassador (MFA) programme has been established at King’s for more than three years, and continues to provide support and advice, and deliver preventative strategies to pupils across the Senior School. 

The programme has proved so successful at King’s that we were recently identified by Worth-it, the organisation that developed it, as a spotlight school for the programme nationally. 

Mr Parkes was delighted with the news: “Developing a peer-led wellbeing programme was something I started to think about in the immediate aftermath of Covid and, after doing a lot of independent research, came across the evidence-based approach used by Worth-it.

“Within King’s, the programme has evolved to meet the needs of the pupils and to ensure that as many of them as possible are benefiting from the work of the MFAs, and that has been an amazing thing to be a part of. 

“I would urge any school thinking about introducing a similar programme to just do it. The impact at King’s has been undeniable with fewer referrals to the School Counsellor than three years ago, and – crucially – normalising conversations around mental health.”

In an interview with Worth-it, Mr Parkes talked about how the role of the MFAs has grown and evolved, and how each new cohort of ambassadors brings their own ideas to the table.

He said: “The majority of the work our MFAs do is on preventing mental health issues. Through a variety of awareness campaigns, initiatives and strategies, the MFAs seek to reach as many pupils as possible. 

“Over the years, they have introduced initiatives as varied as Juice Club – a safe space for younger girls to chat to female MFAs about everything from friendships to puberty – and Working Well Sessions, a series of pre-exam sessions, entirely peer-led, to help students manage negative exam stress.”

CEO of Worth-it, Liz Robinson, praised the work that Mr Parkes has done with his team of Mental Fitness Ambassadors.

She said: “It is wonderful to hear about the incredible work that is being done at The King’ School. 

“The MFAs are essentially designing their own wellbeing curriculum – and delivering it – which is such an empowering things for them and the pupils they are helping. 

“The Working Well Sessions are just one example of how advice and strategies delivered by a pupil’s peers can be so much more effective. Mr Parkes talked about how pupils opened up about their own exam stress, normalising conversations around anxiety, which so rarely happens when a teacher leads a session like this.”

Reflecting on the interview, and on the accolade of being named a spotlight school, Mr Parkes said: “I am lucky to have such an enthusiastic group of MFAs and I think we can look forward to even more great initiatives and ideas from them next year, proud in the knowledge that they are having a lasting impact on their peers. 

“I hope that other schools can take inspiration from what we have done at King’s to implement their own ambassador programme and reap the benefits in the same way that we have.

“Any schools that are thinking about introducing their own programme would be more than welcome to visit us at King’s to see how we do it and chat to some of our MFAs themselves.”

Pictured here are some of our MFAs with Mr Parkes and Head of Dutton House, Miss Latifa. 

Read more about the impact of the MFA programme and how it can work in other schools, please see this article on the Worthit website.