Half of all mental and emotional wellbeing conditions present themselves by the time a child reaches 14 but most cases remain undetected and untreated. A research pilot by RTT Method within secondary schools found an estimated 10% of year 10 and 11 suffered from anxiety, often coupled with a lack of confidence. The combination can have a crippling effect on their lives, preventing them from enjoying school, hampering their learning and impacting their social life.
That’s why a new resource called ‘I Can’t to I Can’ aims to reduce these numbers by giving primary school children the tools they need to overcome anxiety, build confidence and take control of their emotions. It has been created by RTT in response to the anxiety pandemic Covid has created and features a specific set of mind hacks that can provide immediate help. These skills can help a child throughout life and also significantly lower the numbers who develop adolescent mental and emotional wellbeing issues.
‘I Can’t to I Can’ takes just a week to instil positive new approaches in children aged 7 to 10. Available online, the free resource is based around the RTT concept of installing the inner cheerleader. Everyone is born with an inner cheerleader as, without that driving force encouraging us, babies would never learn. However, children as young as 5 start doubting themselves and listen to their inner critic instead of their cheerleader which is why the skills taught in ‘I Can’t to I Can’ are so key.
‘I Can’t to I Can’ takes just a week to instil positive new approaches in children aged 7 to 10. Available online, the resource is based around the RTT concept of installing the inner cheerleader. Everyone is born with an inner cheerleader as, without that driving force encouraging us, babies would never learn. However, children as young as 5 start doubting themselves and listen to their inner critic instead of their cheerleader which is why the skills taught in ‘I Can’t to I Can’ are so key.
Kerin Muddle, lead practitioner for social, emotional and mental health needs at Sandhurst School, one of the schools where RTT therapy has been piloted commented:
‘RTT made a huge impact on our students who felt more in control and understood how to manage their emotions after a single session. They could recognise negative emotions and were able to see them for what they were and turn them on their head. Providing primary children with RTT resources will make everyone’s lives easier – parents and teachers but especially the children themselves.They will experience immediate benefits and emotional know-how that will stay with them throughout their lives’.
The I Can’t to I Can 5-Day Challenge is launched at the end of September with schools being encouraged to participate during the week of 8th November in the lead up to Anti-Bullying Week and World Kindness Day.
Schools sign up via https://method.rtt.com/i-cant-to-i-can-challenge/ and the resources will be made available on 20th October giving teachers the opportunity to review and plan over half term.
