Youth Mental Health Summit in Oxfordshire

How many students can I bring?

Each school/college group is invited to bring between 5-10 students.

Which students should I bring?

We welcome students of all ages from Year 7 – Year 13/Sixth Form. 

This event can be a great opportunity for any young leaders in your school/college (School Council Members, Student Union Executives, Prefects or Mental Health Ambassadors) to gain skills & experience which they can take back to share with the wider school/college community. It can also be an excellent opportunity for any students you know are experiencing mental health problems or who are supporting someone close to them with mental illness. 

If possible – we highly recommend offering the opportunity to all your students and asking those interested in attending to write a paragraph explaining why they would like to attend to help you select a mixture of students with a variety of experiences who want to attend.

What happens after I sign up?

Please see this flowchart which explains what happens after you sign up & what is needed from you in order for students to attend the event: https://bit.ly/TeacherFlowchart

How are places allocated?

Places will be offered on a first come first served basis. We hope to have as many different school/college groups attend as possible so are initially invite each institution to bring between 5-10 students. 

If interest in the event outreaches the event capacity we hope to offer a similar event again in the 2022/23 academic year and will put those who express an interest this year at the top of the waiting list for future events.

Can teachers/staff attend?

Absolutely! We encourage teachers and school staff to attend the event alongside pupils to enjoy the day & hear their students’ views around mental health and wellbeing. Students will have opportunities to discuss issues around mental health and wellbeing which affect young people, so this can be a great way to hear your students’ views and start conversations about how well your school/college supports students’ mental health. It is also an opportunity for you to refresh your knowledge of local mental health support services and get to know some of the local CAMHS and charity staff who provide mental health support locally.

Each school/college group is invited to bring upto 3 staff members who would benefit from attending this event to increase their understanding of mental health & wellbeing and support the students attending.

We do however appreciate that staff might not be able to create time to attend this event, therefore you do not need to accompany students to the event or stay during if you aren’t able. Please see the question below for more information about students attending unaccompanied.

Do I need to accompany students to the event?

No you do not have to accompany students to the event or stay during if you aren’t able. If you do not plan to stay for the event yourself, and no other staff will be staying, please select ‘0 staff spaces’ when booking.

Closer to the date of the event we will ask you whether students will be accompanied to the event or travelling unaccompanied. If students are travelling to the event unaccompanied by a staff member we will ask you for information about how & when the students plan to arrive (e.g. will they be travelling together in a taxi from school/college or travelling independently from home) as part of our risk assessment and safeguarding procedure for the day. We are able to email/phone your school/college once students arrive to confirm their safe arrival if needed.

We will have a designated Safeguarding Lead for the event and will make their contact details known to you ahead of the event.

I have a student who is part of the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust Youth Board in Oxfordshire who wants to attend

Since December 2021, 19 young people from across Oxfordshire have been meeting regularly to share their thoughts, ideas and opinions with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust on a range of topics to help support local young people’s health and wellbeing, including helping design this Youth Mental health Summit. Youth Board members are automatically guaranteed a place at the event, but will need parental permission and permission from their school/college to be absent for the day in order to attend the event. We really hope you will support any students who are part of the Youth Board to join this event – ways you can do this are detailed below.

If you would like to bring a group of students to the event including a Youth Board member(s) please sign up using the link above & we will be in touch 

If you will not be bringing a group of students to the event but would like to support your students(s) who are Youth Board members to attend – please help them secure permission for absence on the day of the event and ask the student(s) to sign up independently via the booking form selecting ‘I am a young person’.

We will confirm with all young people who sign up via the young person link that they have permission for absence on the day of the event and will gather parental consent for them to attend.

The summit sounds great but 5th July doesn’t work for my students

We are sorry your students can’t join us this year! If interest in the event outreaches the event capacity we hope to offer a similar event again in the 2022/23 academic year and will put those who express an interest this year at the top of the waiting list for future events. To express an interest in attending a future event please send Kellie an email at [email protected] with details of the best point of contact for the 2022/23 academic year.

Who is the summit for?

The event is free to attend for any young person aged 11-21 living, working or studying in Oxfordshire. Youth professionals are welcome to attend with their young people, but as the summit is aimed at young people and capacity is limited we will not have space for professionals attending without a young person or group of young people.

How can I support the young people I work with to attend?

Full details about how you can support – by either signposting young people to the event or bringing a group of young people – can be found here: https://bit.ly/YouthProfessionalsFlowChart

We don’t have capacity to accompany young people to this event

Don’t worry – we understand that this is a full day event & many youth groups and organisations will only have contact with their young people for a few hours each week, usually at evenings and weekends, therefore we have multiple ways you can support this event & help young people you work with attend. For full details look at our Flowchart for Youth Professionals: https://bit.ly/YouthProfessionalsFlowChart and see some other ideas below:

1. Share details about the event, including the webpage, with your young people & parents. Talk about it – email & post on social media. Young people can then sign up independently to attend.
2. Request a stall at the event. If you offer wellbeing activities for young people get in touch to request a stall. We will have limited capacity for stalls so particularly welcome interactive stalls that can offer the young people attending a 2-15 minute activity on your stall such as a quiz, taster session, or competition.  Please email Larissa at [email protected] if you are available on Tuesday 5th July & are interested in hosting a stall with some brief details about your organisation & what you’d like to do on your stall.
3. Host the event? We are currently seeking a venue that can host the event for upto 100 people. If you have a space that we could use on 5th July please get in touch to discuss further! Your support will be hugely appreciated!

How are places allocated?

Places will be offered on a first come first served basis. If interest in the event outreaches the event capacity we hope to offer a similar event again in the 2022/23 academic year and will put those who express an interest this year at the top of the waiting list for future events.