Choices Life Coaching

A huge congratulations to Thornhill Community Academy, on obtaining the Gold Standard School Mental Health award.
We’re so proud to work with their fantastic Pastoral and Student Support Services teams. This award is so well deserved, in recognition of all of their hard work.

The Academy scoops pioneering mental health award We are delighted that the Academy has achieved the School Mental Health Award which is delivered by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools. We have been awarded a Gold standard for our outstanding mental health and wellbeing provision.

Today marks the end of another chapter.

We are always sorry when it is time to say goodbye to our students. We hope that all of our Year 11 and Year 13 students had wonderful and special last days though.

We are immensely proud of you all, for what you have achieved during what has been an unusual and difficult year and we wish you all the best in the next steps of your journeys.

Best wishes,
Denise and Marie

This year concentrates on Nature and how important it is and vital in helping keep us emotionally, psychologically and physically healthy.

Nature can generate a multitude of positive emotions, such as calmness, joy, creativity and can facilitate concentration.
Even small contacts with nature can reduce feelings of social isolation and lower levels of poor mental health; in particular lower depression and anxiety levels.

Nature has a very wide definition.
It can mean green spaces such as parks, woodland or forests, as well as blue spaces like rivers, wetlands, beaches or canals.
It also includes trees on an urban street, private gardens, verges and even indoor plants or window boxes.
Surprisingly, even watching nature documentaries has been shown to be good for our mental health.
This is great news as it means the mental health benefits of nature can be made available to nearly every one of us, no matter where we live.

Listening to birdsong, touching the bark of trees, smelling flowers or feeling the soil between our fingers whilst planting bulbs, are all highly sensual ways to connect with nature.

As part of we're all being encouraged to get out and connect with nature and share our experiences with one another.

This week at we'll be doing this and encouraging our students to do so.
Please feel free to share your experiences with us here also.



*Research taken from the

*Photo credit: Marie Whittaker

Wishing a very happy to all strong, intelligent, talented and simply wonderful women of this world.
Let's make it our mission to and one another every day.
There's no limit on what we can accomplish and achieve together!

Comment below, or share and tag your female heroes.

To all students, parents/guardians, teachers and support staff - Well Done! You made it! You got to half term!

Perhaps it's not going to be the break you had planned, or perhaps you will still be working. Whatever you do, try to take some time over this next week for yourself, to Relax, Refresh and Recharge!

The theme of this year's Children’s Mental Health Week is Express Yourself.

Expressing yourself is about finding ways to share feelings, thoughts, or ideas, through creativity. This could be through art, music, writing and poetry, dance and drama, photography and film, and doing activities that make you feel good.

It’s important to remember that being able to express yourself is not about being the best at something or putting on a performance for others. It is about finding a way to show who you are, and how you see the world, that can help you feel good about yourself.

Connecting with others is an important way of looking after our wellbeing.
Why not try some of these conversation starters at home to think about the positives from your week and things which you are grateful for?

1 in 6 children and young people have a diagnosable condition.
This week, we're supporting 's - raising awareness of the importance of children and young people's mental health.
Learn more: childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk

Also, Hello 2021!
Does anyone else feel like they have just survived the longest January on record? We're certainly welcoming February with open arms!

Commonly known as the 'Month of Love' of course. Did you know that it also comes from the Latin word 'februa', which means "to cleanse"?

This month we will be looking at ways to 'cleanse our minds' and look after our mental health.
This week it is , so we will also be taking part in supporting that

Well it's been quite the year getting us to this point, and we know that today is an unpredictable and worrying day for many of you.

But today isn't a day that will decide the direction of your whole life - today is a day that no matter what, you stand tall and be proud of your amazing self.

Be proud of what you have achieved in these extraordinary circumstances. Take this moment for what it is, because it has been a rollercoaster, and here you are. You have achieved amazing things and this is the start of a very exciting journey.

We are so proud of you all. Class of 2020 - you are amazing.

As the school year comes to a close, there are many Year 11 and Year 13 students that we have had the pleasure of working with who will now be going on to colleges, universities or taking the plunge into the world of employment.

We would like to share with you a message from our founder and Head Life Coach - Denise Nowell, as well as a few quotes from her favourite book; "The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse".

(Illustrations by Charlie Mackesy)

Wishing the NHS a Happy 72nd Birthday! 🎉

Thank you so much for continuing to provide us with support and care when it has been needed the most. 💙

We’ll be joining in to say thank you, this evening at 5pm by clapping for our amazing carers. 👏

This weekend marks a huge historical event for the LGBTQ+ community with 91 countries joining in 24hrs of celebration for

There will be content streamed from Pride Organisations, Activists, and World Leaders all coming together in these challenging times to celebrate diversity and equality.

It is an event not to be missed. We will certainly be watching. For details on how you can watch and what the line up will be, click the link below.

We wish you all a where ever you celebrate, whoever you celebrate with.



https://facebook.com/events/s/global-pride-2020/1541515102674768/?ti=cl