Increasing rates of mental health difficulties for young people in the UK are often described, though seldom from young people's perspective or viewpoint. The Schools NorthEast Healthy MindED Commission works towards supporting schools to understand and mitigate the factors affecting young people's mental health, and through doing so enable better…

This paper reports a small-scale action research project aimed at helping a school whose teachers were concerned about the behaviour and achievement of their Year 8 group. Two focus group was used to identify any worries or concerns of pupils in Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9; aged 11-14). These concerns were further explored using a ranking exercise…

The COVID-19 global pandemic continues, and in Hong Kong numerous measures have been put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus. One of the many facets of life that is being affected is education, with many face-to-face classes suspended and students having to go online for lessons. The virus continues to be active in the city, so our…

Across countries, the age and timing of when children navigate school transition varies, as does provision of support during this challenging time. These two factors can heavily shape young people's adjustment, yet to date there is minimal research which has investigated how this period is navigated in different cultures. The aim of the present…

A student's 'meaning in life' and his/her connectedness to school, friends and family are believed to be factors that influence the development of life skills. Teachers could be aware of these factors in their endeavours to foster 'whole-person development' in their students. In this small-scale study, twelve secondary school teachers participated…

Digital communication technologies play an important role in the social development of young people, but can create vulnerabilities to cyberbullying and other negative online experiences. The "Blurred Lives" project aimed to tackle cyberbullying innovatively using a co-participatory approach, collaborating with 14-16-year olds living in…

This article explores the relationship between cross-age peer mentoring and positive life outcomes as defined by the Five Cs: competence, character, confidence, connection, and compassion. Qualified high school juniors and seniors were randomly assigned groups of 4-5 freshmen to mentor through the challenges of transitioning to secondary school.…

Research shows that school environment impacts significantly on students' mental health, future aspirations and feelings of school connectedness, which in turn can improve academic outcomes. The UK has seen rising numbers of academy schools in recent years which have been scrutinised for academic performance but overlooked in terms of important…

This paper explores young people's perceptions of the role and value of shared "gathered" silence in the corporate life of a school community. It draws on a small-scale qualitative investigation in a Quaker school setting. There may be particular things to learn about the practice of stillness and silence inherent in the ethos of a…

Using an international educational database, PISA 2009, this study investigates and analyzes 15-year-old students' attitudes toward school in 11 Asia-Pacific units (country, city, or area). For each unit, the study demonstrates four types of students' attitudes toward school, compares male and female students, and examines the relationships of the…

There is growing interest in examining the use of mobile technology among children. The present study extended this literature among a sample of 9-11-year olds in Wales, UK in three ways. First, to examine the level of mobile phone ownership; second, to consider how mobile phones are used, investigate timescales and expectations when communicating…

Community engagement in natural hazard preparedness is crucial to ensure sustainable initiatives. Children are important members of communities, and can actively contribute to community preparedness. This article presents research undertaken with 11- to 12-year-old students from a school in Auckland, New Zealand, and leaders associated with the…

This study examines how an understanding of two NLP concepts, the meta-model of language and the implementation of reframing, could be used to help teaching assistants enhance class-based interactions with students with mild SEN. Participants (students) completed a pre-intervention and a post-intervention "Beliefs About my Learning…

Stories in one form or another have been used for thousands of years to influence social behaviour. A social story is a short story created specifically for an individual with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and focuses on social skills (e.g. initiating conversations) that need to be developed for him or her or on helping the individual adjust…