Investors in Well-being 2023

Macclesfield College is excited to announce that they are the first College in the world to be awarded the Art of Brilliance 'Investors in Wellbeing' status. Over the past 12 months, the College has been working hard with Dr Andy Cope and his team, to educate staff and student ambassadors about mental wealth, positivity and resilience.

Dr Andy Cope is a qualified Teacher, best-selling author and an expert in all thing’s happiness. Andy started the Art of Brilliance to help tackle the current world shortage of happiness. They specialise in training and development to help you become a more positive, motivated and brilliant person.

The training at the College began by introducing the pastoral staff to the science of ‘Positive Psychology.’ Progress Coaches, mentors, HR and some of the Senior Management Team spent a week really understanding the nuances of choice, belief, mindset, compassionate listening, gratitude and emotional regulation and put all the content into some HUGG’S, (Huge Unbelievable Great Goals) which they have worked towards over the past year.

Since the staff training, elements of positive psychology have been introduced into the College curriculum. Students are encouraged to think about what they are like at their best. They have been taught that mindset is a set of beliefs about what they think is possible and importantly, what they believe about themselves, will have an impact on how quickly they can learn.

Dr Andy Cope says” I want to create a culture in education where wellbeing is on the curriculum the one thing that parents and carers want for their children is for them to be happy. The world then does its worst to make them unhappy. Wellbeing should be up there with maths and English as a key core subjects that we should be teaching young people so that they understand how to look after their own well-being. ‘

So what next? Building positive psychology into the curriculum, building a growth mindset and building the confidence of the well-being student ambassadors … but the College won’t stop there! They want all new starters in September to be introduced to the language of well-being in their first few weeks. This will set them up for success in their time at the College, but also for their future. The College also hopes that it can inspire other colleges and education providers around the world to invest in the well-being of all.