Aspen Heights British School Mental Health Ambassadors Program
This article was featured in the BSME Newsletter 2024-25 | Edition 3
By Redah Khan, School Counsellor – Aspen Heights British School
This year, Aspen Heights British School proudly received the Outstanding Mental Health Initiative in Education award at the 2024 Mental Awards for our Mental Health Ambassador Programme.
Taking a data-driven approach, for the last two years, I have been actively collecting and analyzing my student self-referral counselling data, and the finding were insightful. My data revealed that 81% of students experiencing an issue had not spoken to an adult before seeking counselling support, but over half had confided in a peer.
This highlighted to me the importance of tapping into peer support and the idea of the Mental Health Ambassadors was born. The concept of student ambassadors isn’t new, but it is powerful. When I explored peer support programs, I found many counsellors were already tapping into the strength and empathy of their students. It affirmed a belief I’ve long held: children are not passive recipients, they are active participants, capable, resilient, empowered and ready to take charge.
With valuable advice from schools already running similar initiatives, graciously sharing their learnings and best practices, we launched a pilot programme with four teacher-nominated students. They were trained externally through The LightHouse Arabia’s Teen-to-Teen Mental Health First Aid course. Their training equipped our students with essential skills to spot signs of distress, offer support, and direct peers to appropriate resources.
At no point were out students left to deal with any peer issues on their own. They were mentored by six trained Adult Mental Health First Aiders on staff, and had the full support of our safeguarding team, including our principal, Mrs Shanahan, also a certified Mental Health First Aider.
Our Ambassadors went on to lead school assemblies during Mental Health Week in the 2023–24 academic year, host forums exploring the link between mental health and movement, and initiate meaningful peer conversations. The impact was clear in our year-end student survey:
- 91.2% of secondary students now know who their Mental Health Ambassadors are
- 75% said the MHAs made it easier to talk about mental health
- 33 students shared that they had directly benefited from peer support
This year, we've expanded the programme by welcoming 21 new Ambassadors trained with Mind Your Health, bringing our total to 25 trained students in secondary. Each one is equipped to spot signs of distress, use active listening skills, and confidently encourage and signpost peers to appropriate support.
These students are now actively involved in creating well-being videos, leading Wellness Weekend initiatives, and participating in our first-ever Mental Health Fair.
It has been a joy to watch our students become catalysts for change. They have shown that mental health isn’t just a catch phrase; it's a shared responsibility, and when students are empowered, the results are extraordinary!