Workshop Day FAQs

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, which equips young people with the knowledge, confidence and skills to recognise and address their own mental health needs.

Our programme includes:

• MOTS Mental Health Workshop Day

• MOTS Change Makers Follow-on Training

The whole school workshop has been co-designed by teachers, healthcare professionals, students and parents. The workshop day includes comprehensive education on mental health in the following topics:

• Key Stage 3 – Depression, anxiety, confidentiality, and social media.

• Key Stage 4 – Depression, anxiety, confidentiality, and exam stress.

Following the mental health workshop day, students are invited to join our Change Makers follow-on programme for further training opportunities.

Students will engage in follow-up sessions, receiving additional support and training on mental health education.

MOTS Change Makers have the unique opportunity to share their perspectives and personal stories through our blog, as well as the chance to join our monthly podcast.

Each topic that is discussed has been carefully designed by a team of clinicians (alongside teachers, students and parents), providing your students with the most up-to-date knowledge on mental health. Each topic offers in-depth knowledge, tips, and tools to manage mental well-being independently.

Our workshop day helps take some of the strain from your school counselling and pastoral services, as we are equipping entire school communities with the necessary tools to combat some of the most common mental health worries students are facing, which in turn can improve exam outcomes and employability.

As part of our whole school approach, we educate all 5 year groups in one day.

If you would like fewer year groups for your school, please get in touch with us for further information. We can also include your sixth form year groups (depending on your school timetable).

1 hour/per year group/session.

This includes 50 minutes for our workshop content delivery and 10 minutes for students to arrive from their previous lesson.

Your school must have the equipment below:

• Projector/screen which can connect to a laptop via HDMI.
• Projector/screen which can play sound.
• A space large enough to facilitate all students in one year group at a time.

Our sessions run continuously throughout the day. Our two mental health facilitators will arrive at 8:00am to set up their equipment; they will start delivering workshops every hour, apart from break and lunchtime.

Our team will bring their own laptop, microphones and check the adaptability of your school’s equipment before attendance. Our mental health facilitators are equipped to deliver workshops promptly and can adapt to your school timetable.

Example timetable for the day:

Mind of the Student facilitators have received in-house mental health training prior to visiting your school. They all have a background in youth work and/or psychology. Facilitators are DBS checked (enhanced) and are Level 1 trained in safeguarding. DBS certificates will be presented on the day of our arrival.

The 1-hour sessions are complimented by our pre/post-workshop lesson plans and resources, which teachers can easily incorporate into their PSHE classes or another related subject. These include preliminary information on our workshop day, lesson plans, worksheets, and PowerPoint presentations, all focused on mental health and wellbeing.

How can I make a new booking?

To make a new booking, please click here for our booking form.

Alternatively, you can book via our QR code or website: https://mindofthestudent.org.uk/workshop-day/

We collect data regarding your student’s knowledge and understanding of mental health. This information will be collected before and after the workshop day. A link to complete these questionnaires will be given in the pre/post-workshop resource pack, sent out via email. 30 students from every year group must complete both questionnaires, as this forms an integral part of how we measure impact.

Our workshops work best when students are engaging with the content being delivered. We understand that sometimes, students do not want to raise their hand or get involved due to embarrassment or simply not knowing the answer to a question.

If this is the case, our facilitators may ask teachers their thoughts. We highly encourage teachers to support with the facilitation at times to encourage students to become more engaged.

We may ask teachers to demonstrate the exercises and techniques being taught on the stage with our trained facilitators, and we may ask volunteer students to show these techniques to improve engagement levels. Please remind teachers of this clause, and that involvement from students and teachers is necessary for optimum workshop delivery.

Our mental health programme encourages open conversation on mental health, including the topic of suicide.

Discussing suicide openly helps raise awareness and provides an opportunity for young people to seek help or for others to recognise signs of distress in someone they know. Open conversations can contribute to suicide prevention by breaking down stigma and creating supportive environments.

If a student has been affected by suicide or self-injury, this must be communicated to our team in the first instance. Any student affected by this must be supported and allowed to decline workshop participation/attendance.

More guidance can be found for schools here – Government Advice. More guidance on teaching suicide prevention can be found here – PSHE Association