Dorchester Middle School has held a wellbeing week with Dorset Mind to educate its pupils about mental health.

The charity was given a grant of £5,000 from Dorset Health Trust to run its Big Umbrella program at Dorchester Middle, making it the first school in Dorset to be involved in this scheme.

The Big Umbrella is an early intervention project aimed at building young people’s resilience and equipping them with the skills to manage and maintain good mental wellbeing.

Pupils attended an assembly to explore what mental health, emotional wellbeing and resilience is and learn about coping mechanisms. Then they went to resilience workshops to learn skills to help them talk about and deal with their emotions.

Anna Powney from Dorset Mind said: "It is aimed at the middle school age group because the project focuses on early intervention and the earlier you learn about mental health, the easier it is to destigmatise it.

"If a young person meets the criteria for our service, we will offer them a session to talk to a trained professional to explore what is available and what might be helpful."

Students also learned about celebrities who have suffered with mental health issues, like Lady Gaga.

Fynn, a pupil in year eight, said: "It was really surprising to see some people who I know who have mental health problems that you wouldn't think they do."

Dexter, in year five, said: "My favourite part was reading the Big Bag of Worries and we had to share our worries to make it easier to carry."

Teacher Fiona Ray said: "It's a really positive project. It also goes into how exercising, healthy eating and getting plenty of sleep affects mental health.

"The staff had some talks because if you are giving advice about mental health to a child then you need to be fully aware of what it is and how it should be approached."