Film and television academy launches project to address wellbeing amongst school pupils

The Yorkshire Academy of Film and Television (YAFTA) project, founded by award-winning businesswoman, psychologist and psychotherapist, Charlotte Armitage hosts acting classes in schools with a focus on the development of psychological skills to support individual student growth, mental health, and wellbeing.

They will start from September and are engaging, non-invasive, inclusive opportunities to identify and address the early presentations of anxiety in school-age pupils, from KS1 to KS4 nd allows interventions to be made before anxieties manifest into more challenging behavioral difficulties in adolescence and adulthood.

It comes as NHS England recently announced that young people had been “hit hard” by the Covid-19 crisis, the worry that self-harm is becoming normalised in young people with Mental Health Minister, Nadine Dorries warning against labeling a generation of young people with mental health issues.

Ms Armitage, who is also the managing director of (YAFTA), based in Leeds said: "This past 18 months have been extremely disruptive and challenging for young people. As someone who works in mental health and supports people psychologically on a daily basis, I am passionate about preventative care to avoid a pandemic of mental illness developing in the current generation of children.

"Mental distress presents differently in children compared to adults, and many times this anxiety or distress is not recognized in children as it can present in a number of different ways. Addressing anxiety early on can prevent it from manifesting into difficulties that can become much harder to treat. Given the impact that the lockdown and pandemic have had on children’s mental health and wellbeing now is a crucial time for a safe, emotional outlet to be offered to children.”

The YAFTA Project provides after-school and integrated curriculum-based courses taught by professional acting tutors. The courses are supported by a team of mental health professionals who work with the teaching team to advise on the appropriate delivery of the courses to facilitate good mental health amongst the school population. The scheme will launch in schools across Yorkshire in September 2021.