Using data to improve wellbeing through creativity
Co-created with young people, schools and education and mental health experts, the #BeeWell survey has been designed as a gold standard survey for the measurement of adolescent wellbeing across England.
Many of our Artsmark schools have closely engaged with the #BeWell survey. This Children’s Mental Health Week, Simon De Courcey, Director of Cultural Capital Falinge Park High School, tells us how they’ve been using this data to improve wellbeing for their students.
“Student wellbeing has been an ongoing priority at many schools since the pandemic. At Falinge Park High School - an 11 to 16 urban comprehensive in Rochdale North - the use of data gathered internally, locally and regionally garnered from the BeeWell longitudinal surveying tool proved helpful in organising a series of cultural activities to support our young people. As part of a pilot scheme organised by Curious Minds across North Manchester, we have partnered with local arts organisations to co-construct a series of workshops and activities to develop student leadership, promote wellbeing and strengthen community cohesion. This has been carefully woven into a series of wider initiatives as part of the school’s ongoing Artsmark journey.
The pilot has also been used to create a cohort of Creative Health Youth Champions in Key Stage 4, supported by the Royal Society of Public Health Creative Health modular qualification. The champions have led student sessions, lunchtime practical workshops, created whole school wellbeing videos, developed new classroom resources and planned a series of cultural activities for Key Stage 3.
Circus toolkit
Analysing the #BeeWell data alongside the Creative Health Youth Champions allowed staff to prioritise the strengthening of community cohesion, the development of student tolerance and the creation of further student leadership opportunities. This in turn drove the planning of an intensive half day workshop led by Skylight Circus Arts in Rochdale in the autumn term of 2023. The November session was planned for a targeted group of 15 Year 8 students (with skills or wellbeing selection criteria priorities) and the Creative Health Youth Champions. A successful event took place, fuelled by the inclusion of a circus toolkit for the school, filled with practical equipment and digital skills modelling assets for cascading to wider groups of students back in the building. One student commented:
“Leading the intervention session with younger students for our Arts and Wellbeing workshop was an incredibly rewarding experience. It made me feel inspired and fulfilled to see the enthusiasm and creativity these students brought to the session. I learnt that the Arts have a unique power to foster self-expression and emotional wellbeing, especially in younger individuals. It highlighted the importance of providing a safe and encouraging environment for young minds to explore their artistic abilities. Overall, this experience reinforced the positive impact that the arts can have on mental and emotional health, and it reaffirmed my commitment to promoting arts and wellbeing initiatives in the future.”
New friends and garden parties
A local micro-commission with Skylight Circus Arts has now escalated to a wider neighbourhood commission beyond the borough with another secondary school, and the planning of a larger scale activity for late Spring 2024 with the involvement of regional arts and cultural organisations. This has been woven into the wider offer of the school to develop literacy, promote arts and cultural engagement and strengthen wellbeing through the redevelopment of our school garden. The successful pilot scheme and use of #BeeWell data has helped to gather interest from a number of construction and facilities management companies who are now keen to help the school realise their ambitions of completely transforming the current outdoor area for our young people with the inclusion of new student artwork, the development of quiet social spaces and a new outdoor performance area.
The aspiration is to host a large-scale, arts rich garden party in the new space this summer where our young people can showcase their circus skills to peers and family and to engage families and the local community with a student led cultural offer. The whole process has been supported by Curious Minds and championed by our young people. It has been hugely life-affirming scheme to see our young people interrogate data and initiate cultural change within school and beyond.”
Simon De Courcey, Director of Cultural Capital, Falinge Park High School, Rochdale
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