Oldfield School was delighted to welcome the Mayor of Bath, Councillor Dine Romero and the team at I Can & I Am, a Bath-based mental health charity, for the official opening of its second double decker bus.
Sessions on board the I Can & I Am bus combine pizza making in the converted kitchen on the ground floor with workshops on the top deck.
Oldfield students were invited onto the brightly coloured bus where they got stuck into pizza making and were joined by the Mayor who rolled up her sleeves and got involved too. She then went up to the top deck to view a wellbeing workshop where James Shone, founder of the charity, was explaining his philosophy of improving self-esteem and self-belief.
The friendly and experienced team on board introduce the idea that we all have a metaphorical balloon within us. When this is full of air, we feel good about ourselves, we are resilient and we have self-confidence. Time on board provides essential tools to enable us to understand how to keep our balloons of self-belief inflated.
“It’s so good to see the many different resources available in our area for supporting the mental health of our young people, especially at the moment,” said Mayor Dine. “I really enjoyed my time on board the I Can & I Am bus – both making pizza with the students and learning more about how they can care for their own mental health.”
Oldfield Headteacher, Andy Greenhough, added, “We were delighted that the charity I Can & I Am chose Oldfield School to host the opening of its new bus and that our students have had the opportunity to benefit from the workshops on board.
“We have had so many enthusiastic comments from our students following their time on board the bus and are delighted to see them being provided with these tools for coping with life’s challenges and supporting the work we do in school.”
Oldfield will continue to invite the I Can & I Am bus into school as a support for their young people.