Having entered our School Improvement Plan into this year’s #BeeWell prize competition at the end of May, we were delighted to hear last week that Crookhorn College had been selected as runner-up! The prize, a generous £750 cheque to spend on initiatives to improve students’ wellbeing, was gratefully received by our in-house #BeeWell Student Steering Group.

Student voice is very important to us at Crookhorn, and we are incredibly proud of the many students who have contributed to this year’s plan. From the initial survey responses completed by all Year 8 and 10 students in Nov 2023 to the Tutor Group discussions on support available and collaboration between our #BeeWell Student Steering Group and College Council, the co-creation of the plan really has been a true group effort. It has also been fantastic to see two of our students completing the #BeeWell Young Researchers Programme through the University of Manchester and seven students involved in the #BeeWell Youth Matters group for Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Our plan has three main strands focusing on issues surrounding school pressure, stress and coping; improving school-based support; and tackling loneliness. We are excited to see the plan come to life in the coming year and to find out where our continued involvement in the #BeeWell project takes us next!

A special thank you to our in-house Student Steering Group, whose discussions around the College’s personalised survey feedback have borne so many great ideas for improving our students’ wellbeing. Finally, thank you to #BeeWell for leading the way and for giving us the opportunity to explore this vital work for our College community.