Rugeley pupils win national acclaim after putting young people’s mental health under the national spotlight

Focused on helping the community

Two Rugeley Sixth Formers have won high praise in a prestigious national design competition which focused on helping the community.

The Hart School students Kiera Bradley, aged 18, and 17-year-old Jessica Monschke, choose to focus on young people’s mental health for their design submission to a national contest set by the London College of Communication (LCC), part of University of Arts London.

The talented pair came a close second out of scores of entries from across Britain.

An innovative and original idea

They also won praise from judges for their “innovative and original idea” after devising a game that would allow children and parents to come together and talk openly about their mental health in a comical and honest way.

Speaking about their game, entitled Adults Lessons, a play on the word adolescents, Kiera said: “We were inspired by the popularity of humorous games such as Cards Against Humanity and recognised that the tradition of families coming together to play games was becoming rarer.

“Young people often use humour to discuss their problems, so we wanted to capitalise on this. Adult Lessons sees players using cards to talk about their mental health using comical prompts.”

Jess and Keira’s idea went under the spotlight in a display as part of London Design Week at LCC in Central London which attracted half a million visitors from across the globe.

School’s pride in its caring pupils

Ben Brennan, Head of Sixth Form at The Hart School, in Penkridge Bank Road, said: “We’re so proud of Jess and Kiera’s achievement.

“Their project showed a level of maturity and empathy that is common in our sixth form students. I am sure that this will be the start of amazing careers for both of them.”

The Hart School’s Sixth Form open evening will take place on November 28 at 6pm until 8pm and is open to all.