The Children and Young Peoples Panel, or CYP Panel, is a group of students at school that have decided to get involved to have their say about mental health services and to help develop the mental health training offered to professionals working with children & young people in Norfolk and Waveney.
The panel is hosted by TALK training and participation teams. The training team work to train adults to become Mental Health Champions and to develop their understanding of children and young peoples mental health. The Mental Health Champion training teaches adults how to support childrens mental health and we want to make sure that young people have a say in what is included in the training which is where the CYP Panel comes in.
The CYP Panel meets once a half-term at school and each time the panel meets, they will have a new topic to discuss and feedback on. Example topics might include how they want the adults in their lives to support them, which resources might be helpful for adults to use, and help to develop case studies for adults to practice their skills in the training.
By being a part of the panel, these children will have the opportunity to have their voice heard by professionals working in mental health services. They will gain valuable skills including leadership, confidence, problem-solving and collaboration. Our hope is that the CYP panel will grow to include students from many different schools and we hope to provide training and skills workshops for panel members in the future.
Defining Mental Health
Our Children and Young People’s TALK Panels have been creating a new definition of mental health.
Now more than ever, children and young people are aware of the importance of taking care of our mental health and we really wanted to understand what young people consider to be ‘mental health’.
Understanding what we mean by mental health, including the perspective of the young people we support, is a key part of our Mental Health Champion training.
Thanks to Panel’s hard work, we now have a new, up-to-date definition to share with our trainees!
“Mental health is a mix of feelings its not just about being happy and excited, its about being sad or worried too its how you feel inside your mind and how you control it. Its like getting a notification from your body to show that you are taking on a challenge.”