Many of the headteachers I meet speak about the increase in poor mental health among their pupils, and how it affects too many children's day to day lives.
I had this in mind when I met Nicole Antoniou and Michael Holding at their base in Stapleford Tawney to find out more about their award winning Bootcamp Squad, which promotes good mental health and fitness in a number of schools in West Essex.
Nicole created the original Bootcamp Squad scheme after her own child's headteacher was impressed by the work Nicole had done to help her overcome shyness. With the help of Michael, the project is now being used in schools to tackle the challenges that everyday life presents in the school environment.
With the help of a negative-thinking parrot, and a positive-thinking fairy, Nicole and Michael explained how they help children put themselves in charge of their own actions and reactions, and make themselves a better version of themselves.
Nicole and Michael then put the children through physical fitness workout to give them the perfect opportunity to immediately put into practice the tools they have just been taught.
Nicole and Michael are hoping to roll their programme out across more schools to boost confidence and well being among not only the children, but also their teachers. It's an admirable project and I will be bringing it to the attention of the schools in Brentwood and Ongar I am still to visit.
If you want to find out more, details are here: www.Thebootcampsquad.com
