The NOW Festival takes place each year to coincide with Children’s Mental Health Week. This year, it was held at the Liverpool Epstein Theatre, and we were extremely proud to participate on Opening Night One.

Our performance was entirely led by the voices of our students, who worked incredibly hard to develop and deliver a powerful message. They wanted to highlight how bullying and making assumptions about others can have a serious impact on mental health. The performance explored how such experiences can change a person’s behaviour and the challenges young people may face when trying to access support within their school and local community.

Our students also demonstrated how bullying can sometimes be dismissed as “banter”, when in reality it can cause deep emotional harm and, in some cases, lead individuals to harm themselves. The message was clear: words and actions matter.

We were also proud to showcase the wide range of support available both within our school and across the local community. This includes our dedicated Mental Health & Wellbeing Team, our committed staff, and external organisations such as Everton in the Community, YPAS, CAMHS, LGBTQ+ services, and local food banks.

The overall message of our performance was one of hope — that with the right support, from the right people, at the right time, it is possible to move from a dark place into the light, where things feel brighter and more manageable.

We are here to support you.

We are absolutely delighted to share that we WON the award for Best Mental Health Message of the evening!

Well done to all of the students who participated. You demonstrated outstanding confidence and represented Alsop High School with pride and exemplary behaviour.

Please see our facebook page to view a video of our performance.

https://www.facebook.com/alsophighsch/