The Course
The Student Wellbeing Ambassador Programme (SWAP) is an online course designed to train a group of teenage students in the psychology of wellbeing. It also gives them the tools to influence their peers to effect culture-wide behaviour change for improved wellbeing.
We all want the same thing – happy, successful students. And the evidence is clear – when you teach students about wellbeing, it not only improves their wellbeing, it also improves their academic performance (Adler 2016, Lindorff 2020)
There’s also clear evidence that the people students are most influenced by, when it comes to sustained behaviour change, are other students (Paluck et al 2019).
‘There is a strong international evidence base to support the assertion that whole-school
approaches to promoting wellbeing can have an effect on academic attainment’.
Dr Ariel Lindorff, Department of Education, University of Oxford
Oxford Impact Study
How does this work?
- Decide on how many students you want to take the programme
- Sign up on the Get Started page or email us via the Help page
- You will then get your own School / College page which you can access using the ‘Teacher Login’ button on the Home page
- From there you can enrol students and monitor their progress
- When you enrol them, students receive a welcome email with a link giving them access to the course right away
- There are no time limits or restrictions – have the students start the course whenever you want and take as long as you need
‘It has helped me to communicate better with other people and to understand the differences in people and the different levels that they are on’ 6th Form Student
The programme is designed for teenage students, but take a look at the sample material and gauge for yourself which of your students you think would get the most from the course.
For Example...
Maybe you have a mentoring / buddy programme and you would like your student mentors to have some practical training so they can advise other students about wellbeing.
Perhaps you have a group of prefects or student reps you would like to train up, to teach other students about wellbeing.
You might even have your own dedicated group of student wellbeing ambassadors and you need some way of training them so that they can spread evidence-based wellbeing ideas around your school or college. If not, why not start from scratch? Recruit a group of students specifically for the Student Wellbeing Ambassador Programme and let them transform the wellbeing environment for your students, and staff!
‘There is strong evidence to suggest that whole-school approaches to promoting wellbeing can have positive effects on a wide range of other student outcomes, including mental health, self-esteem, self-efficacy, motivation, behaviour, and decreased probability of dropout’.
Your Instructor
Aidan Harvey-Craig wrote the Student Wellbeing Ambassador Programme and his teenage daughter narrates the videos. He is author of the book 18 Wellbeing Hacks for Students: Using Psychology’s Secrets to Survive and Thrive. Aidan has two degrees in psychology and has worked as Head of Psychology, Head of Year, and Student Counsellor in a range of schools in the UK and internationally.
His previous experiences include running Anger Management and Cognitive Skills programmes in a maximum security prison, and working as an editor in a global publisher of online travel information.
Media
‘This is my kind of book! It's evidence-based, easy to read and so practical. This book will prove so useful to students. A book that will help them understand themselves and the people around them better, as well as equipping them with the tools they need to thrive. Highly recommended’
