A SCHOOL has launched a new initiative to help tackle student anxiety.

New Rickstones Academy in Witham is now providing students access to a well being centre.

The room is operated on a referral system, with teachers able to suggest a student use the room for an hour, a day or longer when needed.

Trained staff will run interventions in the new room, which will also offer pupils a quiet and safe place to go when they are struggling with anxiety.

Sue Harris, high level teaching assistant, said: “The hub is a safe place for students to come to when they need time out. The Hub gives structure and they can only come out of lessons and take timeout when their teachers have agreed and arranged it for them.

“Students know they have somewhere they can go to to calm down and compose themselves if they need to. They come to the Hub with work to do, but they can also talk to us in one to one sessions if they need that support.

“The hope is, they will return to lessons, but the idea is for students to make the decision when they feel they can do it. That gives them confidence to say ‘I will give it another go’. It is not always the right thing for them to go straight back into class; they have to be in the right frame of mind to work and sometimes they have to take a step back. It is not just that one student who will be affected if they go into class too soon.

“It is working. If they have had a bad morning, they can come here and turn their day around. It is a case of them stopping and asking themselves ‘what can I do and what will help’.

“Students respond because they do not feel they are in trouble in the Hub; they come in to stay away from potential trouble.”