Huge Success for Headstart Event
Wednesday 26th March, Bolton Wanderers in the Community (BWitC) welcomed 104 students from 4 schools across Greater Manchester to the Lion of Vienna Suite at the Toughsheet Community Stadium. Students taking part in the Headstart programme were invited to the home of BWFC to engage in a range of activities before sitting down for a Q&A session with two former Headstart participants and BWFC First Team player Gethin Jones.
We would like to thank Rochdale Community Trust and Foundation 92 for joining us with their participants alongside our partner schools Sacred Heart and Claypool Primary School. At the start of the day, participants from each CCO presented on topics they have been learning about in their Headstart sessions. BWitC was represented by Claypool Primary who talked about Resilience, Foundation 92’s paticipants talked about overcoming unhelpful thoughts, and Rochdale’s students talked about self-esteem. Students then broke out into groups to take part in a range of activities including a youth advisory session where they could feedback what they liked and disliked about the sessions.
Of course it wouldn’t be a BWitC event without some stadium tours, calming yoga and a special appearance from a BWFC First Team player. We would like to thank Gethin Jones who joined us on Wednesday 26th March, surprising the attendees during their sessions to take part in a Q&A, alongside Emily (year 8) and Amelie (year 7) both ex-participants, all about his own experiences with life transitions.
Bringing students together equips young people, not only in our town but across Greater Manchester, with the tools to make new friendships and feel confident in new surroundings. However, our work doesn’t end here. Our Headstart programme supports students through 1-2-1 and classroom mentoring sessions throughout their transition from Primary to Secondary School continuing through the start of their Secondary School journey. Our team use a flexible approach, to provide interventions at the earliest opportunity; providing education on coping strategies and self-management with the end goal to reduce the number of individuals needing, and therefore the demand on, local CAMHS services which currently have large waiting lists.
If you would like to find out more about our Headstart programme head to our Headstart page.