Mental health and wellbeing column: Music making a difference

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is a key priority for Portsmouth Music Hub, and also for the city. At the beginning of 2020, consultations with students as part of the hub's Youth Voice programme indicated clearly that mental health and wellbeing were areas that the young people thought the hub should be focusing on in order to support their needs.

Just a couple of months later, the country went into lockdown and the music hub launched Sound Minds, a programme using music and the arts to enhance children and young people's mental health and wellbeing. Throughout the pandemic, being able to focus on how music and the arts could specifically support young people was a challenge but was also a way to show students that music and the arts really could make a difference in their lives.

Student voice

We work closely with the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), local wellbeing groups, health advisers, NHS staff, the school improvement service, councillors, partners, and of course our schools and students. Every voice and every contribution helped and continues to help shape Sound Minds. By prioritising the views of children and young people, we can focus on what is most important to them in directing the hub's work and impact, and this continues to form a key part of our inclusion strategy.

It is always a challenge to know which young people to target, and we have worked with individuals and existing groups to seek their views. Here are some examples:

• Students working with the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service;
• Virtual School students;
• Youth representative on the Hub Board;
• Youth Member of Parliament and Deputies;
• Home-educated students;
• Primary and secondary school teachers, who have acted as ambassadors, consulting with their students and providing feedback to the hub;
• Ensemble members;
• Youth groups;
• Foster carers;
• Portsmouth Cultural Education Partnership.

Sharing young people's stories enables us to learn from their resilience, determination, and openness, which is inspirational and this in turn informs and inspires the work of the programme.

It's a question of real life

The initial consultation highlighted four key themes:

• Self-esteem/self-belief
• Online safety
• Coping with loss
• Spirit of ‘we're in this together’.

We have spent time training our staff in children's mental health to ensure that they are equipped to talk with children, liaise with professional organisations, and advise schools. The hub has a wellbeing champion and a head of nurture.

One of the first songs that was composed as part of Sound Minds was by a student called Lillyana, who wrote a song called Memories in memory of her grandpa who had passed away. Her mum later explained that writing the song had helped her overcome the feelings of loss and sadness that she had been experiencing.

Memories became a pivotal song and formed a new way of working for the hub, as students worked with professional composers to write songs expressing their feelings, thoughts, and experiences. These songs were recorded professionally, and, in some case, films of photographs and artwork were created to make a visual memory as well. Listen to Memories.

One of the issues highlighted by children and young people was the need to continually raise awareness of online safety. We have an e-safety team in Portsmouth who have a campaign called ‘Beware of lurking trolls’ aimed at KS2 students. Feedback from students indicated that they would like a new song that would engage and involve KS2/3 students. Ideas from students contributed to music, lyrics, emojis and graphics for It's a question of real life. The song has been used as part of city-wide media campaigns about online safety and as part of the national Safer Internet Day. Listen to It's a question of real life.

Can't hold us down

One of our students said, ‘Although I sometimes feel sad when I sing at home because I'm not singing with my friends, it does make me feel better about myself and reminds me of happy times.’

Self-belief is a key factor in raising self-esteem and giving young people confidence to express themselves and become the young people they want to be. I believe in me was released as part of national Children's Mental Health Week and features students from St Edmund's Catholic School and Admiral Lord Nelson School in Portsmouth. Listen to I believe in me.

The messages that we have received from Portsmouth's children and young people continue to reinforce our belief about the significant impact and value of music and the arts in young people's lives. One very poignant song composed by Year 6 students at The Flying Bull Academy, which has become somewhat of an anthem, is called Can't hold us down. The song speaks for itself. Watch Can't hold us down.

Sound Minds is evolving in response to feedback from our children and young people and we look forward to sharing more across the coming year.

www.portsmouthmusichub.org