As a region, we should be doing everything in our power to encourage young people to be the very best version of themselves – whatever that means to them.
Sometimes, however, the best option here is to call in the professionals!
Humanutopia, an organisation that empowers young people to make positive changes, visited Washington Academy (part of Consilium Academies) to do exactly that.
Not only do they run motivational, life changing courses for young people, but even for adults too! Finding happiness and boosting motivation has no age limit, after all…
A warm and psychologically safe environment
During the visit, some very fortunate Year 9s got to take part in one of the ‘Who am I’ workshops.
Firstly, they reflected on their past to understand more about how they came to be the person they are now, before entering ‘the stretch zone’ to consider how things can be different if people behave differently.
From there, they considered their hopes, dreams and goals for the future – and courageously committed to making three of them a reality! The session was only concluded when every student (leave no man behind!) identified and vowed to make three positive changes to improve their future.
It’s hoped that the workshop provides a warm and psychologically safe environment for young people to express themselves about the struggles and challenges they’ve faced. Additionally, it encourages students to work collaboratively in small groups in order to present a positive social experience with students outside their friendship circles.
Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East, said: “Helping empower our students should be one of the main priorities for schools right now. We’re seeing unprecedented levels of school avoidance and persistent absences, an issue that could very well be softened with a more structured approach to boosting self-esteem and motivation.
“Huge well done to Washington Academy and Humanutopia! It sounds like some excellent progress was made.”
New friendships began to flourish
Feedback amongst the students was very positive! Here’s what a few pupils had to say:
“It made us realise what we may have said wrong and what we could do to make things better.”
“It was great to see how they got people to open up and speak about their experiences and how this impacted them.”
“We got to talk to different people in the year group who we wouldn’t normally. This made new friendships.”
Victoria Carter, Head Teacher at Washington Academy said: “I am delighted that we had representatives from Humanotopia at Washington this week.
“The workshop was a great experience for the students and clearly inspired them to think more meaningfully about their day to day actions, whilst encouraging them to think big when it comes to their future.”
Washington Academy is a Schools North East Partner School. If you’d like to find out more about our Partner School membership, click here.
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