AJB Active Minds

Old but Gold!

To add to our throwback weeks we are taking a look at one of the inspirations behind the Mental Health programme. Alongside the 5 C's to youth development we used the NHS 5 steps to wellbeing to build our programme around.

The objective?

Allowing children the freedom within our lessons to begin to create their own 'Action plans' for when they felt sad, alone, angry or simply down and wanted some support.

Its important to us that we do not act as Therapists or Psychologists within our sessions. We are not diagnosing, we are simply creating a safe and fun environment to discuss our mental health, emotions, our triggers and importantly, create our own actions plans through our own experiences and that of our peers.

Food for thought for everyone, regardless of age ....

I can ‘connect with someone’ like my .....
I can ‘learn something new’ like .....
I can show ‘mindfulness’ by .....
I can ‘give to others’ by ......
I can be ‘physically active’ by ......

Major Throwback to the beginning!

During the build of Active Minds, we wanted to trial the program as much as we could, with as many different groups and ages as we could.

One of our first ever sessions was with our local primary school. We learnt so much for these trials and they helped shape the programme to what it is today.

St Georges Catholic Primary school in Worcester wanted to help their year 2 children with their Mental health and emotional resilience. As part of their overall child welfare and development at the school they wanted to target specific children who they felt would benefit from a physically active program for physical and mental development.

https://www.ajbactiveminds.co.uk/case-study/st-georges-catholic-primary-school-2/

Active Minds Case Studies

Throwback Thursday to our first major partner -Everton in the Community back in 2021!

Everton in the Community’s Diabetes prevention team used Active Mind’s Diabetes Awareness programme to help support local school children and educate them on the dangers of Diabetes and the steps we can take in our daily lifestyles to help prevent Type 2 Diabetes.

It was a great trip up to Goodison Park with Chris Bright from The Diabetes Football Community. We got a nice tour of Goodison Park (couldn't help ourselves) and then delivered Active Minds to a local primary school.

Thank you to Lucy McLean for all her hard work and support.

https://www.ajbactiveminds.co.uk/case-study/st-georges-cofe-primary-school-2/

Last week was a busy meeting week for Active Minds. We had another fantastic meeting with another professional sports club. This time it was with Rob Josephs from Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation

Love to hear all the great programmes that the foundation run and how much hard work goes into creating so many opportunities for young children. Looking forward to catching up to see how Active Minds could be added to, their already excellent offerings to children.

From a child's quote from June 2022 to a quote from our partners and Jamie Holme from his Active Minds sessions in London this year:

“There has been a huge impact on the children I have completed targeted interventions with! The children have been speaking up a lot more about their issues, and all have different ways of preference for speaking up, this includes actually having that difficult conversation, drawing it out for adults and even journaling has been useful for the children. I'm personally really pleased with this feedback, as its showing the programme is making a difference”

This type of feedback and quote is just amazing, not only amazing from a programme perspective but from the human perspective of those who built the programme. To hear its having a positive impact and being successful with professional football clubs is just mind blowing still. Its a compliment to the journey that we have been on and the effort we have put into the programme.

Throwback Post - June 2023

Its not just the teachers we asked about Active Minds. We also asked the children how they felt during the lessons:

Listening to the children and creating an environment where they want to speak is the most important part about Active Minds. We want to encourage (but not force) children to talk about either themselves or others (distanced learning).

These conversations can tell us so much about a child and also allow that child to know that someone is listening, its ok to feel their emotions and its good to share them.

We are getting in the Euros mood!!

Let’s go Andy Beeston and James Prentice! Bring it home for Active minds in the Euros challenge with .sports

Not sure how confident we are though 😂😂

We loved this simple message:

A wise man said:

"Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles, it takes away today's peace'

Whats your action plan when you are worrying and want to refocus? Physically Activity? Connect with a friend or family member?

Welcome back everyone to the new Summer half term!

We hope that everyone has had a lovely May half term and we look forward to seeing everyone this half term

We love this 👇🏻👇🏻

Very important from

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Happy Bank Holiday Monday!

Happy Half Term from everyone at Active Minds.

We hope that everyone has a lovely half term and we cannot wait to see you all back after the break.

Active Minds in action

What did the teachers think....

We worked hard with teachers when we designed Active Minds. Their feedback in and input was priceless in the build and success of the programme. It was important that teachers saw the value of the programme but also felt that they could deliver it themselves as well.

As if this is was 4 weeks ago already!

What a trip we had down to Brentford Community Sports Trust with Emily Donovan and Jamie Holme

We loved our trip down to see the stadium, meet our partners in person and see see the programme in action. It was a great celebratory event put on for the local primary schools and we definitely want to come back and do it all over again!

We treasure our partnership with Brentford FC Community Sports Trust and are really excited about what the future holds together and look forward to continuing our work together and learning from each other.

Active Minds in action

What did the children think....

We love having our programme delivered across schools and enjoy the feedback from both the teachers and the children. Knowing the children get a lot out of the programme and feel comfortable sharing their feelings is what it is all about.

Mental Health Awareness Week - Support

We have decided that for this we would focus on the great support that is out there for anyone who is, or knows someone, living with mental health challenges.

Our final focus this week is on Samaritans

"If you need someone to talk to, we listen. We won't judge or tell you what to do."

Some common reasons people contact us are:

Relationship and family problems
Loss, including loss of a friend or a family member through bereavement
Financial worries
Job-related stress
College or study-related stress
Loneliness and isolation
Depression
Painful and/or disabling physical illness

For more information, and if you need to talk to someone, check out their website and the different ways to get in touch and find help.

https://www.samaritans.org/

Mental Health Awareness Week - Support

We have decided that for this we would focus on the great support that is out there for anyone who is, or knows someone, living with mental health challenges.

Todays focus is on Mental Health UK

"We challenge the causes of poor mental health and provide people with the tools they need to live their best possible life at home, school and work."

"In a rapidly changing world, Mental Health UK brings together the heritage and experience of four charities from across the country who’ve been supporting people with their mental health for over 50 years. Working UK-wide, we deliver both national and local services that enable and empower people to understand and manage their mental health in a person-centred and empathetic way. We challenge the causes of poor mental health and provide people with the tools they need to live their best possible life at home, school and work."

For more information, check out their website and all the fantastic information they have.

https://mentalhealth-uk.org/

Mental Health Awareness Week - Support

We have decided that for this we would focus on the great support that is out there for anyone who is, or knows someone, living with mental health challenges.

Todays focus is on YoungMinds

YoungMinds are a mental health charity for children, young people and their parents, making sure all young people can get the mental health support they need

Their website is full of advice and information to give young people the tools to look after their mental health. "We empower parents and professionals to be the best support they can be to the young people in their lives. And we give young people the space and confidence to get their voices heard and change the world we live in. Together, we can create a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health."

For more information, check out their website and all the fantastic information they have.

https://www.youngminds.org.uk/

Lovely post from the Association for Physical Education (AFPE)

is a reminder to prioritize self-care, break the stigma, and reach out to those who may need a listening ear👂

Below are 5 ways that being active can benefit your mental health⤵️

Mental Health Awareness Week - Support

We have decided that for this we would focus on the great support that is out there for anyone who is, or knows someone, living with mental health challenges.

Todays focus is on Mind - a mental health charity in England and Wales.

Mind offers information and advice to people with mental health problems and lobbies government and local authorities on their behalf. It also works to raise public awareness and understanding of issues relating to mental health.

Their website offers great support sections from:

Types of Mental Health
Helping someone else
Tips for everyday life
Finding support

For more information, check out their website and all the fantastic information they have.

https://www.mind.org.uk/

Mental Health Awareness Week - Support

We have decided that for this we would focus on the great support that is out there for anyone who is, or knows someone, living with mental health challenges.

First up are who offer their Mental Health First Aider courses for all educators working with children and young adults.

This is a great course that we have had the pleasure of studying and it has really opened our eyes, to not only the information within, but the scale of help that is needed and help that is out there.

For anyone working in education or with children, we highly recommend this course and becoming a Mental health First aider.



https://mhfaengland.org/mhfa-centre/campaigns/Mental-Health-Awareness-Week-2024/

Today marks the start of Mental Health Awareness week 2024 🧠

Although Mental Health should not just be addressed for just 1 week of the year, and is something that we should help consistently with, it's also a great opportunity this week to highlight Mental health, support those living through this and sign post wonderful support networks available.

This years theme is “Movement: Moving more for our mental health”

Movement is important for our mental health. But so many of us struggle to move enough. We know there are many different reasons for this, so this Mental Health Awareness Week we want to help people to find moments for movement in their daily routines. Going for a walk in your neighbourhood, putting on your favourite music and dancing around the living room, chair exercises when you’re watching television – it all counts!



https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/mental-health-awareness-week

Active Minds in Action

Did you know Active Minds has been delivered in Primary schools, Holiday camps, HAF camps, conferences and by professional sports clubs?

In School time, Active Minds has been delivered as whole group lessons, lunchtime clubs and intervention lessons around the country. Each group hand picked as a group of children that would benefit from such a program and delivered by either professional coaches, teachers or teaching staff.

Why did schools want to use Active Minds?

St Georges Church of England Primary school in Worcester wanted to use Active Minds to help educate their children on the importance of looking after their Mental Health and increase awareness of strategies that can impact their emotions positively. This was part of their overall child welfare and development at the school as they wanted to target specific children in several year groups who they felt would benefit.

We love having our programme delivered across schools and enjoy the feedback from both the teachers and the children

This Saturday sees Andy Beeston join some friends in completing the Malvern Hills Walk for St Richards Hospice in Worcester.

We will be walking 11 miles over the 3 peaks and the length of the Malvern Hills throughout Saturday, helping to raise money for St Richards Hospice which provides free specialist palliative care for people living with life limiting illnesses.

I was asked to join and them and thought, why not? What a great experience to have for such a worthy cause. Ive been told that the 2nd hill is where the challenge kicks in, one step forwards and 3 steps back is the phrase I keep being told 🤣

Now all I need to do is to find some walking boots...... 👞

https://lnkd.in/edTPyv3M

Happy Bank Holiday Monday!!

We hope that you are able to spend time with the family and put the feet up for an extra day.

5 years ago we didn't exist...

We were an idea that we thought might work...

We were a wish and a dream of something we would love to do...

We didn't have a logo, a plan, lessons, contacts, partners, website...

5 years later, look where we are and where we are going. Always important to reflect on the journey and how far we have come.

Small Group Discussions and Conversations:

Did you know? Each of our lesson has been designed for children to work either on their own or in small groups. We find that circle time discussions are a great way to generate ideas and share knowledge whilst completing our worksheets or reverting back to the lesson video. These small group discussions go hand in hand with the tasks on our worksheets and children must play the games to complete their worksheets

Our Mental Health and Emotional Resilience programme thrives on small group interaction. This allows the children to discuss their feelings if they wish to, and listen to other children - reminding them they are not alone and it is ok to not be ok.

Did you know that we tried to design Active Minds to help to meet Ofsted's personal development & welfare guidance for schools.

We believe the program enhances pupil confidence, resilience and education so that they have the knowledge and tools to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Whether this be our Mental Health and Emotions, Diabetes Awareness or Nutrition programme, we feel Active Minds helps children develop their knowledge and understanding of these critical issues, and helps them make informed lifestyles choices.

Did you know when you sign up for Active Minds you get all your premium resources on your online platform to use when you want, where you want with your groups.

📺 Pre Lesson Guidance Videos
💻 Lesson Videos
👩🏻‍🤝‍👨🏼 Small Group Circle Time Games
🏃🏼 Physically Active Games
📜 Lesson Resources, worksheets and plans
🙋🏼‍♂️ Interactive Worksheets and Questionnaires for the children
👩🏾‍🏫 Teachers Guidance forms and sheets

What an Active Minds Lesson looks like - a series

Todays focus is on the 'Data Template Collection'

A key part of the Active Minds programme is the ability to knowledge check the children to ensure that learning has taken place. We do this with the Pre and Post Questionnaires and then the data that is captured is input into our Data Analysis tool. This was the beginning and fundamental to each programme, the entire program is built upon the data we look to capture.

Data is collected from each lesson and scheme of work to produce individual reports displaying impact data and demonstrating effective use of school budgets to put towards meeting Ofsted progress requirements.

The topics of the questions within the questionnaires are then spread out as learning objectives over the course of the lessons so that their is direct learning and continuation of topics for the children. The topics are then highlighted with our Data Analysis form in order to capture whether learning has taken place.

A huge plus we have found, specifically for our Mental Health programme, is that the data collected can either show where learning has taken place or, even more importantly, highlight where a child may need additional support outside of the classroom.

Data from children's results can then be presented as either individuals or as a whole class score.