Youth Conference in Sale

Posted at 10:39 am on 20th March, 2019

Youth Conference in Sale

On Thursday 7th March, Wellacre students joined students from across Manchester at the Let’s Talk SEND youth conference at the Sale LifeCentre.

The SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) conference invited students to take part in a number of workshops to offer guidance and life skills in areas such as staying safe on social media, travelling safely independently, and the importance of sleep to mental health and wellbeing.  Students also participated in a game of rounders with inclusivity.

Finally, students were challenged to create their own political party and a manifesto for improvements for young people locally.  They were then asked to present their ideas for change to the whole conference audience, which included Mayor of Trafford, Tom Ross.  Wellacre boys focused on improving health and wellbeing, with one idea to provide swimming pools for every school establishment.

Mrs Rothwell, Teaching Assistant at Wellacre, said:

“All boys were excellent and joined in at all the workshops.  The opportunity to create a political party and ideas for change helped them understand the needs of others and work well as a team.  Delivering the presentation to everyone, including the Mayor, really helped to boost their confidence and self-esteem.”

Student feedback was extremely positive following the conference:

“I enjoyed learning new skills and meeting other young people with a variety of needs.”

Daniel, Year 8

“I liked making posters, listening to others and going up on stage with our presentation.”

Matthew, Year 8

“I enjoyed meeting the Major and getting a selfie with him! It was great to stand up on the stage twice and present to the conference.”

Andrew, Year 7

“It was great to meet the Major and learn new things, especially that frogs do not sleep!”

Callum, Year 8