b'GlobalCollege launches scheme to support students mental healthElin and her peers felt that as well as supporting students with their overall mental health and wellbeing, the scheme would provide a safety net system to prevent potentially bad situations from escalating. The College has invested in the training of over 30 pupils and staff, demonstrating how seriously we take the emotional wellbeing of our pupils.The scheme is up and running and we are raising awareness about general mental health and wellbeing for our students. Mr Murphy said. Training students places them in the ideal position to recognise the problems and issues faced by their contemporaries and provides them with the necessary skills to offer guidance in helping them seek support.People often find it difficult to identify and discuss things which are worrying them, but its good to talk, and that is one of the most important messages we are communicating. There are many risks associated with mental health and young people can put themselves under an enormous A group of Sixth Form students have launched the Mentalamount of pressure with exams and day to day school Health at Ellesmere Support System (MHESS), a supportlife, not to mention the added stresses that the Covid-19 scheme that focuses on raising awareness of the importancepandemic has contributed. of mental health and wellbeing, ensuring that students knowWe are in the process of creating a multi-layered support how and where they can access support. structure with lots of options for students who are unsure The initiative is being led by Year 13 student, Elin Jones,of where to turn to when dealing with difficult thoughts along with a team of Sixth Form students and Alex Murphy,and emotions. Having a student support team provides an Director of Rugby. It is also supported by the team of on-siteapproachable source of guidance for students that acts as a medical staff.stepping stone between pupils and staff.Gulwali Passarlay: My life as an Afghan RefugeeGulwali Passarlay, the internationally renowned author of The Lightless Sky - his memoirs detailing his hazardous journey from Afghanistan to the UK - once again opened the hearts and minds of Year 8 Geography students and deepened their understanding of the plight and resilience of young refugees with an inspiring talk during his visit to the College this week.Gulwali, an Afghan political refugee, came to the UK in 2007 after undertaking an incredible journey where he travelled a total of 7,150 miles through 10 different countries in order to reach safety and escape a war-torn Afghanistan.Through telling his story to schools and through his book, Gulwali hopes his experiences will explain why refugees choose to leave their countries and families behind, battle feelings of loneliness, fear and guilt, and will allow people to see them not only as asylum seekers, but individual human beings with incredible stories.The talk was truly eye-opening for students, and some fantastic questions were asked by the students. He concluded his talk by explaining how he hopes to end the negative stigma associated with refugees and asylum seekers, and hopes to use his passion towards social change in order to inspire young people into having a more engaged participation in politics and policy-making. EllesmereCollellesmerecollellesmere_college14'