Our first ever Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Month opened with a focus on Black History Month and this week we’ve been looking at mental health. Over the last fortnight, we’ve shared a wide range of materials and resources to support our tutors’ health, and also for them to use to make their sessions more inclusive.

We curated various materials from a range of sources to give tutors talking points for sessions as well as background reading for themselves.

And, in October so far, we’ve shared several tutorials, videos and articles, along with a CPD session, on our tutor training platform Thinqi.

Amongst a wealth of ED&I materials in our online library, we have:

• Some fabulous free resources from theblackcurriculum.com, including histories of Mary Seacole and Mary Prince,
• The Black Curriculum podcast, the first episode of which looks at pre-colonial Britain,
• Teachwire’s article on how to talk to children about racism, with some great practical strategies,
• The fabulous Arree Chung’s book Mixed. Mixed is an engaging, beautifully illustrated story which champions diversity and encourages thoughtful conversations with primary pupils. We recommend for Y3/4 Primary Reading sessions. We used the book for the basis of our World Book Day at ESSA Primary School, Bolton earlier this year.
• We also shared this calendar with a focus on a different person for each day of the month – from civil rights activist Rosa Parks to rugby player James Peters – along with some useful texts and poems too.

And, this week, in our Thinqi library, we’ve shared:

• Mental Health Foundation’s top tips for mental health – backed by research.
• Our CPD session with Place2Be on supporting young people’s mental health during tuition.
• Meditation tips from Headspace.
• Tips on relaxation from Mind.

You can also read our mental health blog series from some of our tutors and alumni:

• “There is no ‘cookie-cutter’ definition of what mental health looks like,” Danielle and Zaynab
• “Just that small conversation would mean so much," Maymunah, Daisie, and Rebecca on Mental Health Awareness Week
• “The most important job in the world to me,” Cailum and Marco
• Why Grappling with Mental Health Is a Good Thing as a Tutor, Sharissa Lee
• The positive impact that self-care can have on our lives, Tara Krishan

You can join the conversation on socials by using the hashtag #EDIMonth and tagging us @TheTutorTrust. 

Next week our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Month subject is LGTBQ+ inclusivity.