Nicholas Hill has been a class teacher at Whitehall Junior School for seven years. He is passionate about children's mental health and wanted to gain more knowledge and experience about supporting children's wellbeing.

The Mental Health Champions Foundation programme has helped me understand what might be happening under the surface when a child acts a certain way.

I've learned that sometimes children need a little bit more time to open up. One of the main things I've changed is to give children the space to do that. Maybe they don't want to talk about it; maybe they want to write it down or draw it; maybe they want to explain it in a different way. Place2Be's Mental Health Champions Foundation programme has given me the confidence to approach things differently.

It's made me think about how I conduct myself in the classroom, how to make things more engaging and fun but also be trusted.

Since completing the programme, I feel more confident leading a positive approach to mental health and wellbeing in my school. I've been working a lot with the Head of Safeguarding and doing home visits to get extra experience. We've got lots of children who need emotional and mental support. I'm looking at ways to offer this by starting lunchtime clubs.

Overall, I found the Mental Health Champions Foundation programme incredibly interesting and have already recommended it to my colleagues. There was nothing I found myself overly confused about apart from some challenging terminology. It was all quite straightforward. The course leader was helpful, regularly commenting and getting involved.

Our Mental Health Champions Foundation programme is an award-winning free online children’s mental health training course. 

Learn more about how our programme can benefit you