Preventative Education Update

At the Headlight Project we are passionate about continuing to develop our offering in preventative education.

We believe that education and opening doors to conversations around suicide can save lives. In July 2025, we were extremely encouraged that the Secretary of State for Education announced changes to the statutory guidance on Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) in schools from September 2026.

The changes recommended that schools should be addressing suicide prevention. At the Headlight Project we feel that the changes give schools and staff the permission to talk about suicide prevention as some schools still show some reluctance in engaging with the topic. It is a positive change in helping to protect young people and as suicide is the biggest killer of under 35s education in this area is crucial.

At the Headlight Project we offer schools the delivery of age-appropriate sessions which cover topics including encouraging students to reach out when struggling; signs that someone may be feeling suicidal; encouraging help seeking behaviour; understanding how to help others and finally signposting students to individuals and organisations who can provide help and support.

The curriculum suggests that schools should engage with mental health professionals to put in place evidence-based staff training before addressing suicide directly with secondary aged students to provide support safely.

We can offer tailored staff meeting/PD Day sessions to the secondary schools of the Tees Valley. The approach used is prevention-focused rather than crisis management and encourages an empathetic approach with both staff and students when providing support to others.