{"id":236116,"date":"2025-10-10T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T23:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=236116"},"modified":"2025-10-09T15:57:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T14:57:02","slug":"our-national-wellbeing-problems-require-local-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/our-national-wellbeing-problems-require-local-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Our national wellbeing problems require local solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published today, our Three Thousand Voices<\/em> research gives a powerful insight into what it is really like to grow up as a child or young person in south east London. We all work hard to understand our different cohorts, but some of the findings surprised us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This work is underpinned by the largest survey we have ever carried out across our schools and colleges. Its aim: to ensure our learners\u2019 experiences inform and directly shape our priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One key finding was a dramatic drop between ages 11 and 12\/13 in the number of learners who say they had someone supportive to talk to. At 11, more than 80 per cent feel they have this support. By ages 12 and 13, that number plummets to less than half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know that the transition from primary to secondary school is a time of turbulence, but seeing that sense of security fall away so sharply is sobering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This research echoes the \u2018Year 7 dip’ identified in national data<\/a>, but our local findings provide additional insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, a key factor is the loneliness some children experience when starting secondary school. At precisely the moment when puberty, new peer groups and academic pressure collide, too many children feel they are losing trusted adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It reminds us that every structural change in education has an emotional cost, and that we must not underestimate the fragility of trust at this age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loneliness emerges in other ways throughout this research. For example, we were also surprised that so many young people voiced their need for help to make friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, loneliness has been discussed almost exclusively as an issue of older age. This sense of isolation is clearly not limited to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Theirs are thoughtful, grounded priorities<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Austerity saw the loss of thousands of youth clubs and the pandemic further reduced opportunities for connection. Many learners told us they had very few chances to take part in activities outside school, leaving them reliant on school-based provision for social bonds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This generation is now directly asking us for help to make and keep friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relatedly, belonging came through repeatedly in our findings. Our learners who had been excluded from mainstream schools spoke about feeling ignored and even discriminated against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are not abstract complaints: the sense of unfairness lingers long after the exclusion itself, shaping attitudes towards education and society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We talk a lot about inclusion but hearing so many young people describe the profound effects of exclusion on their friendships, trust in adults and belief in themselves reinforced why it cannot be treated as a side issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most consistent and worrying findings concern wellbeing among LGBTQ+ learners, particularly trans young people. The data showed lower wellbeing scores and our focus groups revealed why: experiences of prejudice, being attacked in public, feeling unsafe online and struggling to find informed support at home or in services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the national debate, fixation on toilets and technicalities misses this fundamental truth: too many LGBTQ+ young people simply don\u2019t feel safe. What they want is not culture war headlines but mentoring, safe spaces, inclusive activities and adults who understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In spite of all these challenges, our research includes some positive themes and uplifting stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked what they would do if they were the CEO of our new charity, learners overwhelmingly prioritised support for mental health, activities to make friends, and promoting understanding of different identities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They spoke about reducing exam stress, having opportunities to explore new places and staying physically healthy while studying. Many also expressed a strong desire to be role models, to help their peers and to make a positive difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are thoughtful, grounded priorities. This, at least, should not surprise us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This research underlines why understanding wellbeing through a local lens is so important. National data can show the trends, but only by listening directly to our own young people can we grasp their complex realities and take the right actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ways to fully meet our learners\u2019 needs are right there in their own words. We\u2019ve listened, and now we know, not just that <\/em>we must act, but how<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full 3,000 Voices<\/em> report here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 3,000 young voices represented in our new report add surprising local context to national concerns about youth mental health<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311124,"featured_media":236063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3734],"tags":[],"post-theme":[3730],"class_list":["post-236116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-the-leader","post-theme-the-research-leader"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t