Mental Health First Aiders

This week, our Mental Health First Aiders got together to discuss a range of methods to help peers in the school deal with conflict. We started by unpicking what a conflict might be, where and when conflicts might occur, and who we may have conflicts with throughout our lives. We discussed what sorts of conflicts might occur whilst in school - for example, in the playground, lunch hall, corridors - arguments, falling outs, accidents, friendship issues and bullying all came up, and we read about and discussed a range of solutions for initially helping those involved in a conflict. Some strategies revised or learnt were: keeping your voice calm and not raising it, taking deep breaths and most importantly, using empathy to understand how others might be feeling, and equally importantly, articulating to others calmly how we are feeling in a challenging situation.

Later in this term, our MHFAs will be leading a similar session in their own classes, with the support of their class teacher, to really show their classmates and peers that they have the credentials to be excellent leaders and to support others with their mental health in conflict situations. Of course, it was clearly stated that if a resolution was not able to be found through their help, then an adult should be sought as soon as possible. But I am very proud of the level of maturity and enthusiasm our MHFAs have shown whilst talking about issues like these which we can all certainly relate to.