AnElphie curiosity
Staff and pupils come together to help fellow schoolchildren address mental health issues
EXCITEMENT is at fever pitch for schools as the biggest event on the education calendar arrives.
Pupils, teachers, parents and members of local communities will gather in the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Glasgow today to discover if they will take home one of the highly coveted Scottish Education Awards.
At the helm will be comedian Des Clarke, who will keep those in attendance amused with his witty banter.
At one school, an orange two-legged elephant called Elphie is packing her trunk to head to the ceremony.
Elphie is responsible for improving the mental health of a school community because being able to talk about the “elephant in the room” has given pupils the confidence to ask for help and teachers confidence to deliver it.
And wherever you venture in Wallace High School, Bridge of Allan, Stirling, Elphie isn’t far from view.
The school realised three years ago that there was a need to tackle mental health by getting pupils and staff involved.
The slogan is “It’s all about ME”, where ME stands for mental and emotional.
Staff have been trained in identifying warning signs, raising a concern with a young person and a protocol for supporting a pupil disclosure.
But it is not all about mental health at Wallace High.
Inclusion is a big part of what they do and an inspirational Special Olympics initiative called Play Unified has been established by two senior pupils.
It brings together pupils with disabilities from both a nearby school and their own school community with pupils without disabilities.
The Stirlingshire school are one of three – alongside Brannock High in Newarthill, Lanarkshire, and Riverside Primary, in Stirling – waiting to hear if their efforts will be rewarded with the Health & Wellbeing Award at this year’s Scottish Education Awards.