The Sixth Form Bolton recognised for students' well-being

The Sixth Form Bolton was recognised at the national Sixth Form Colleges Association Awards, where it was runner-up award for outstanding work in the Mental Health and Well-being category.

The Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA), which represents nearly 120 sixth form colleges and other providers of ages 16 – 19 education across the country, use their annual awards to acknowledge exceptional work in the sector.

Sarah Ball, Assistant Principal - Pastoral Services, said: “We are delighted to be recognised by the Sixth Form Colleges Association for our positive practices in Mental Health and Well-being. This reflects the academic and pastoral work that our staff do to support our students above and beyond that in the classroom”.

“There is also a strong focus on staff development, training and awareness raising at The Sixth Form. All staff and senior management are trauma-informed, many are also supervision qualified, meaning they are able to support one another”.

Some of the examples of exceptional work recognised includes The Sixth Form’s Cocoon. Launched in September 2022, this is a safe space in college for well-being activities and some time to practice self-care for students supported by our learning services team.

BeKind Mentors have also been trained as a student project last year and The Sixth Form now have over 50 students qualified to support their peers positively. The college also boasts 40 staff trained as Mental Health First Aiders, an initiative where staff offer support to each other and are committed to positive mental health practice and developing well-being as a community.

Education chiefs say that this is simply the start of The Sixth Form Bolton’s journey in further developing the whole college approach to positive mental health and well-being.

The Sixth Form recently achieved Gold status by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools Further Education Mental Health Award.