Samaritans looking out for children’s emotional wellbeing

Haxby Road Primary Academy pupils, from left, Kelsey Wilson, Charlie Hyde and Grace Warrington, with, back from left, Steve Lough of York Samaritans, Haxby Road’s Sam Martin and Helen Suter; Diana Gibbon from York Samaritans and Haxby Road’s Karen Doyle.

Children at a York primary school are learning how to look after their emotional health, thanks to a scheme led by volunteers from York Samaritans.

Haxby Road Primary Academy is the first school in the city to work with York Samaritans on the Samaritans Schools Programme, which has already been delivered successfully in other parts of the UK.

The York Samaritans team meet with Year 3 and 4 children from the school each week to deliver a variety of activities to help young people: to find ways to develop emotional resilience; learn who they can turn to when they are struggling emotionally; and be more aware of how they can help others. The scheme has already been so successful that it will be rolled out to more children next term and then throughout the school.

Diana Gibbon, York Samaritans Education Coordinator says “The children at Haxby Road Primary have been wonderful to work with. In these sessions we don’t talk about individual problems, but we do concentrate on helping the children to understand how to cope and where to go for help, with a focus on the importance of listening and being listened to.”

Zoe Lightfoot, Headteacher at Haxby Road Primary Academy says “This project has been a great success so far and we’re looking forward to the Samaritans team coming in to work with more of our children in the future. Our recent ‘good’ Ofsted report identified that the school’s support for the most vulnerable pupils and their families is strong, so any further work we can do with organisations like the Samaritans will only strengthen our commitment to supporting our families.”

Samaritans would like to work in more primary and secondary schools. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Diana Gibbon, York Samaritans Education Coordinator by email:  Diana.yorksams@hotmail.com