We exist so that every young person feels empowered to speak about their mental in school and at home.
Mind of the Student (MOTS) gives young people the confidence to speak about their mental health. We do this by delivering a school-wide mental health programme and community-led services which equips young people with the knowledge, confidence and skills to recognise and address their own mental health needs.
The programme supports secondary schools, to go beyond their statutory requirements, creating a culture where mental health and wellbeing is both protected, prioritised and promoted.
Our Story
Mind of the Student was founded on lived experience in school by Co-Founders, Kieran and Jaylan.
Kieran and Jaylan (middle left/right) both struggled with their mental health in school.
They felt unsupported, scared and alone, with no knowledge at hand to support themselves, which led them to head Mind of the Student, helping other young people get the confidence and resilience to speak up about their mental health.
What we are working towards…
We exist so that every young person feels empowered to speak about their mental in school.
We want to see every young person in school feel able to speak about their mental health confidently, with friends, teachers, family and professionals.
To equip young people at school, and within the community, with the knowledge, confidence and skills to address their mental health needs.
This will be achieved by working in partnership with young people and secondary schools.
How we help
1. Identify
MOTS identifies a baseline understanding on mental health from students, through our pre-programme questionnaire. This allows us to recognise shortfalls in understanding, demonstrating the need for our work.
2. Educate
We deliver a school-wide mental health workshop day to students on depression, anxiety, social media pressures and exam stress. We also provide lesson plans and worksheets to supplement our workshop day.
3. Impact
Following our in-person workshop day, students are encouraged to become Change Makers, who are equipped with further skills to continue empowering peers to talk about their mental health in school.
4. Collaborate
We are committed to working collaboratively with other charities including co-designing resources. We also work in partnership with our Youth Committee, who help shape the charity’s strategic direction.
Why our work is needed
A silent, mental health epidemic is unfolding in secondary schools – right now.
- Young people in the UK have higher mental health need than ever. 1 in 6 young people in England experienced a mental health problem in 2020, up from 1 in 9 in 2017.[1]
- More than a quarter of young people in Wales do not feel like they have mental health support at school.[2]
- 78% of young people said that secondary school had made their mental health worse.[3]
