Back To Friends, Back To School Supports Wellbeing Of Returning Schoolchildren

- Leicester City in the Community are supporting primary school children with the Back to Friends, Back to School programme
- Funded by the National Lottery, the programme has allowed coaches to work with children struggling to adapt back into the school routine
- Leicester City in the Community coaches ran a lesson on positive wellbeing to spread awareness of mental health for World Mental Health Day
- Back to Friends, Back to School is currently taking place in four Leicestershire primary schools 

To help children settle back into school during the ongoing COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, Leicester City in the Community have begun the Back to Friends, Back to School programme.

Working closely with selected primary schools, the programme works with children who have been identified as those struggling to readapt back into school life. 

Back to Friends, Back to School works in three phases; an initial mentoring session, which gets participants to talk about their feelings, decision-making and what is happening with the people they can talk to on a regular basis. 

Then an after-school club takes place, with a focus on leadership to try and develop self-belief, with the final aspect being an evening session - working with a pre-existing Premier League Kicks session - to enable the participants to speak to other school children. 

Saturday 10 October marks World Mental Health Day and Leicester City in the Community has linked the promotion of positive wellbeing around awareness of our mental health. 

Glenn Short, Leicester City in the Community Primary Stars Coordinator, who oversees Back to Friends, Back to School explained more about the programme. 

“Back to Friends, Back to School looks to increase the confidence in children,” he said. “It looks to improve wellbeing from the activities that we do and improve attendance. 

“It’s helped us build on the transition back into school and so far, it has been effective.”

With an increased public focus on physical and mental wellbeing, it has become an area Leicester City in the Community have increased sessions on – with Back to Friends, Back to School being an example.

For Glenn, he can’t stress enough the importance of kindness.

"The awareness of World Mental Health Day is vitally important," he said. "People need to know that it is okay to open up and it’s okay to talk to people.

"It is really important to be kind to each other and make people aware that our mental health is really important."

If you are feeling stressed, anxious, worried or in a low mood, there are people and resources you can turn to - and you can contact local Leicestershire mental health charity, Lamp, HERE.

For more on Back to Friends, Back to School please email Primary Stars Coordinator, glenn.short@lcfc.co.uk.

Imagery taken before social distancing guidelines were introduced.