By Miss Munro-Hall, Head of PSHCEE

Over the last two weeks students from Year 8 and Year 9 heard from Natasha Devon, campaigner, writer and broadcaster on mental health, body image and equalities as part of their PSHCEE lessons.  Last week, Natasha came into school to speak to Year 9 about social media and self-esteem.

The session was very useful, with the Year 9s asking many questions, as she shared her top tips on avoiding tech addiction, such as only using the apps you find most fun and least toxic, disabling your screen notifications and setting a “digital sunset” around an hour before you want to go to sleep.

To avoid fake news, Natasha recommended viewing each piece of news as ‘fresh’ and not always clicking on what the algorithm is suggesting, always checking your sources and not always assuming traditional media is impartial.

Students were also encouraged to think of their clicks and engagement as currency and to spend it wisely, on the kind of content which nourishes them and they would like to see more of, rather than feeding trolls or giving in to clickbait.

Natasha shared a number of useful resources and follow up links to the session, detailed below:

www.natashadevon.com/resources – Free downloadable resources including animated videos with BBC Bitesize, a social media activity sheet and a sample from Natasha’s book for teenagers on motivation.

www.natashadevon.com/books – Download my recommended reading list here.

www.natashadevon.com/advice-support – Links to organisations who provide safe, evidence based and impartial information and support on a range of mental health issues.

Natasha returned to NHEHS this week Year 8 had a PSHCEE talk on Stress & Anxiety: Helping Myself & Others.

Her talk featured:

Understanding what stress and anxiety are – what causes them and the impact they have on the brain and body

How to empty your stress bucket – appropriate activities for stress management

What to say to a friend who is struggling with anxiety

How to know the difference between ‘normal’ anxiety and an anxiety disorder

Where to seek further support

After a very engaging talk, Natasha recommended some useful resources recommended for the Year 8s: 

www.natashadevon.com/resources – Free downloadable resources including animated videos with BBC Bitesize, a social media activity sheet and a sample from my book for teenagers on motivation.

www.natashadevon.com/books – Download my recommended reading list here.

www.natashadevon.com/advice-support – Links to organisations who provide safe, evidence based and impartial information and support on a range of mental health issues.

A big thank you to Natasha for coming into school to give two amazing talks, full of great practical tips and timely advice for our students!