Youth services charity Streetwise has launched Jesmond Park Academy’s (JPA) first wraparound service youth hub for pupils.

The Early Help Youth Hub is part of an initial 12-month project which champions early intervention and prevention to improve student wellbeing. Headteacher of the academy, Steve Campbell, said: “We are delighted to be working with Streetwise in providing essential mental health provision for our students.” 

Streetwise is working alongside Northumbria University to evaluate the effectiveness of the early intervention services offered by the Early Help Youth Hubs. Students accessing support will complete surveys at the beginning, middle and end of the first year to assess the difference the hubs have made.

The Early Help Youth Hub aims to offer support for students who need help for a wide range of issues. Mandy Coppin, CEO of Streetwise and project lead on the Early Help Youth Hub, said the hub will cover everything from sexual health services, CV and career advice to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) sessions for young people.

“We’ve got group work activities there for young people who might need a bit of support with anything from self-esteem, confidence, relationships in the field of being bullied or intimidated, right through to a general drop-in” Coppin told JesmondLocal.

The hub runs all day on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and also offer specialist group work sessions. The ‘H.E.R.’ sessions offer female students support on issues like relationships, confidence and identity. Pupils attending the majority of sessions put on by Streetwise have been selected based on their pastoral information. Drop-in sessions are open to all students from 2:40pm on Tuesdays to arrange an appointment with Streetwise staff.

Gosforth Group – the academy trust that oversees JPA – approached Streetwise to pilot the Early Help Youth Hub scheme within Jesmond Park Academy to both offer services and coordinate pre-existing ones at the school. The project has been funded by Streetwise, Gosforth Group and Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.

Multiple organisations operate at JPA, such as Newcastle United Foundation, Edge and Children North East. Coppin said: “everybody doesn’t really know what each other’s doing. So, there’s a level of confusion for the students and for the teachers. We’re going in there to pilot a co-ordination role.”

Coppin sees the hub as an important step forward in reducing the strain and waiting lists for multiple charities and organisations. “What we’re helping the school to do is assess the actual level of needs of young people and then signpost them to the most appropriate services, instead of signposting everybody to every service and then creating massive waiting lists,” she added.

Director of Student Support, Chris Aitken, emphasised the importance of having early access to proactive mental health support. He said, “We know that the pandemic had a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of everyone, and that’s why we are grateful the Streetwise are providing 1:1 and small group work to support students in school.” 

Since the lockdowns, student wellbeing has been a national concern as time off school severely affected and disrupted pupil’s mental health and routine. Three weeks on from the hub’s opening, Coppin said one of the most common issues being brought up by students was sleeping routines.

She said, “they’re [students] sleeping at four o’clock, five o’clock in the day and then on social media until middle of the night and then they’re not ready and rested for school… We’re going to do some sessions around how to relax and how to catch up with your sleep patterns and energy and things like that, to help students be ready for learning.”

Similar services operate elsewhere in England such as Warwick’s Rise scheme. Rise also takes a ‘whole school approach’ to foster emotional and mental wellbeing in schools through youth centres.

Coppin hopes that the Early Help Youth Hubs at JPA will be the start of a holistic approach to teaching and mental health which facilitates coordination between schools and external services. “Where you teach, we’ll help you teach,” she said.