A health trust and a special needs school have both picked up national awards for teaching young people about mental health.

Park View School, from West Green Road in Haringey, and the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust (BEH) won the HSJ (Health Service Journal) Award for ‘Innovation in Mental Health’ on Wednesday night.

The school taught pupils in Years 9 and 10 about mental health through the Time 2 Talk pilot project. This used drama, teaching and peer support to tackle the issue of mental ill health, alongside BEH’s Haringey Adolescent Outreach Team.

Mentors were chosen to support the wellbeing of their peers, training and guidance was developed for staff and parents, and a mental health policy was developed for the whole school.

Judges hailed “impressive leadership” on the project and praised its student involvement.

Park View said it congratulated all its students for their hard work.

BEH Chief Executive Maria Kane said:  “The project demonstrates real originality and the HSJ judges saw what a difference Time 2 Talk is already having because it is challenging the barriers that can prevent young people from accessing support.”

Anonymous case studies of young people who had experienced serious mental health problems were used for student drama workshops, which eventually became a play shown in the school assemblies across the whole of Park View School. It was then translated into a film called “The Boy Behind the Mask”.

Dr Nick Barnes, leader of the Adolescent Outreach Team said: “This project has had the time, the creativity and the necessary collaborative working to ensure that these changes are both sustainable and effective and it has been a major success.

“It is a real credit to the teams involved and the way all partners have worked together to accomplish something that has been of real benefit to students, staff and parents.”