As part of Oldfield School’s preparation to welcome the new Year 7s in September, some of the current Year 7s have been involved in an exciting project – looking at ways to support the transition of Year 6s in primary school to Year 7 in secondary school. Oldfield’s Year 7 Wellbeing Ambassadors have worked with Bath Mind to create a new website Room 627, which was launched in World Mental Health Week.
Year 7 Wellbeing Ambassadors from Oldfield School have co-designed the entire project and have been working on the project since February. The students wanted to create a ‘room’ for Year 6s to access support, top tips and advice on the change from primary to secondary school. The website is full of tools and activities for young people and families alike to promote kindness and compassion, including the ‘Get Quiet’ drawer, which helps to promote kindness and compassion.
With the 627 Project, the students aim to:
- Give young people moving school a helping hand to make transition smoother and less stressful.
- Create confident young people, taking pride in the work they have designed and made happen.
- Boost resilience, self-confidence and self-compassion.
- Produce young coaches and ambassadors to cascade the work.
- Support the making of new friends.
- Share the excitement of ideas, creativity and exploration.
The project is funded by the #iwill Fund, a £50 million joint investment from the National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to support young people to access high quality social action opportunities. The work has been inspired by Bath Mind‘s Cabinet of Compassion work across the past three years.
The next stages of the project are to continue to populate the website with animations, more stories and resources; cascade the work across the rest of Year 7; and find ways to support new Year 6s coming to join the school in September. The students also hope to visit some other Year 6s in different schools and share their work.
Miss Davies, Head of Year 7, said, “This is the perfect timing for older children to share their experiences and support the younger years in their transition from primary to secondary school. We are very proud of what they have worked on so far and look forward to welcoming our new Year 6s in September and being able to give them this additional support.”