Why sleep matters – educating young people on the importance of sleep
WEDNESDAY 06 JUNE 2018, 0900-1300
Where:
COSLA CONFERENCE CENTRE, CENTRAL EDINBURGH
Discussions at several of our recent training events on children’s mental health, child welfare and child neglect have touched on the importance of sleep to children and young people. A significant number of delegates from across Scotland’s schools, education and wider integrated children’s services have asked us to explore this topic in greater detail.
In response, this half-day training conference – specially designed in partnership with a number of renowned sleep experts – will focus on the role schools can play in educating young people about the importance of good sleep. Using a mix of presentations, existing examples of good practice and interactive roundtable sessions, the event will:
- examine sleep and the sleep cycle and explore why this is particularly important to teenagers
- consider the impact poor sleep can have on young people’s behaviours, their engagement in the classroom and their educational attainment
- explore the effects of social media and digital technologies on young people’s sleep
- highlight the benefits good sleep can have in helping young people maintain good mental health and wellbeing, particularly during times of increased stress or anxiety (such as around school exams)
- provide delegates with ‘good sleep hygiene’ tips and ‘sleep education’ lesson plans that can be delivered to pupils
FEATURING
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- Chris Harvey
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- Heather Cleland Woods
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- Gemma Hay
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- Dr Jim White
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- Tam Baillie
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- Kirsten Russell
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- Holly Scott
| DR. CHRISTOPHER-JAMES HARVEY, Director of the TEENSLEEP project & Associate Director (Sleep Medicine), Sleep and Circadian Neurosciences Institute, University of Oxford DR HEATHER CLELAND WOODS, Lecturer – School of Psychology, University of Glasgow GEMMA HAY, Principal Teacher of Citizenship, Enterprise and International Education, George Heriot’s School DR. JIM WHITE, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Stress Control TAM BAILLIE, Speaker, trainer and consultant; formerly Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People KIRSTEN RUSSELL, Research Assistant – School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde HOLLY SCOTT, PhD Researcher – School of Psychology, University of Glasgow |
Sleep is important to all of us – it helps young children to grow; it helps older, tired bodies to repair; it boosts our wellbeing and helps us think more clearly. In short, it helps us do well in life.
For teenagers sleep is particularly crucial. Our circadian rhythm (the human brain’s internal, 24-hour clock) shifts during our teenage years – we don’t feel sleepy until later (for the average teenager, the ‘sleep phase delay’ is around 2hrs) and we can still feel sleepy in the mornings, if we get up at a normal time.
The average teenager is estimated to need between 9 and 9 ½ hours sleep per night, however many young people struggle to achieve this during the school week. This can lead to sleep deprivation, creating periods of low energy and impacting on the young person’s ability to perform academically – to concentrate, to learn and to remember things.
The biological predisposition for delayed sleep in adolescence isn’t new, however its impact is often compounded by more recent phenomena – such as the pressures on young people to maintain a 24/7 digital lifestyle; more relaxed societal attitudes to bedtimes and sleep; increased caffeine intake amongst young people, in particular from energy drinks; and the impact of abnormal light exposure from digital screens to the sleep process.
Against this backdrop, providing young people with good sleep education is increasingly important – helping them to understand the critical role of sleep and the ‘sleep cycle’ to their wellbeing; to recognise good sleep-related behaviours; and to be able to assess and change their own sleep habits and routines accordingly.
Tam Baillie, Speaker, trainer and consultant; formerly Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People
Dr Jim White, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Stress Control
- What research tells us about the relationship between sleep and self-harm (with and without suicidal intent) in adolescents
- What we know about adolescent sleep, self-harm and suicide in Scotland
- Why sleep may contribute to suicide prevention efforts
Kirsten Russell, Research Assistant – School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde
Dr. Christopher-James Harvey, Director Of The TEENSLEEP Project & Associate Director (Sleep Medicine), Sleep and Circadian Neurosciences Institute, University of Oxford
Gemma Hay, Principal Teacher of Citizenship, Enterprise and International Education, George Heriot’s School
- What we know about adolescent sleep and social media use so far?
- How does this fit with the portrayal in the media and our general held beliefs?
- What should we be doing as teachers, parents and carers?
Dr Heather Cleland Woods, Lecturer – School of Psychology, University of Glasgow
- Working in partnership with schools to close the gap between research, policy and practice on young people’s social media use, sleep and wellbeing
- Supporting evidence-based policy, lessons and dialogue
- Research partnership model, a tailored profile for schools on pupils’ social media use and sleep to support staff, parents and young people
Holly Scott, PhD Researcher – School of Psychology, University of Glasgow
@OxTeensleep @OxSCNi
Chris completed an honours degree in psychology at the University of Glasgow in 2008 and was awarded a Ph.D. in psychological medicine in 2012. His research focused on defining phenotypical vulnerability to insomnia, investigating the interaction between personality, coping style and physiological response to stress (cortisol, fMRI, heart-rate).
More recently Chris has set-up and co-directs the Oxford Online Programme in Sleep Medicine as well as directing the TEENSLEEP project, investigating the effect of school-based psycho-education on improving sleep and wellbeing in adolescents.
@clelandwoods
Heather graduated in 2006 with BSc (Hons) Psychology from the University of Glasgow and completed an MSc in Research Methods in Psychological Science. She completed her PhD under the supervision of Prof Stephany Biello and Prof Colin Espie in 2011. Her research was funded by the ESRC.
Heather’s research interests lie in understanding the development, maintenance and contributors to poor sleep. Her current research focuses the relationship between sleep quality, self-esteem and social media use in both adults and adolescents through the #sleepyteens project. She teaches and supervises at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels with a focus on sleep and the link between brain and behaviour.
@George_Heriots @CitizenshipGHS
Gemma is a Principal Teacher of Citizenship, International, Enterprise and Financial Education at George Heriot’s School, a role she has held for 7 years. Prior to this role, she worked in Pastoral Care and was a Head of Year. The Citizenship programme at George Heriot’s School covers a wide range of topics relating to Personal and Social Education and the topic of sleep has been included in the programme for several years. The School also promotes wellbeing through its ‘Love Your Mind’ initiative which focuses on both mental and physical health and often chooses good sleep as a focus for the whole school.
Dr. Jim White is an internationally-recognised expert in managing common problems such as stress, anxiety and depression. Aware that health-care organisations were seeing only the tip of the iceberg in terms of those suffering from stress and, therefore, unable to do any significant preventative or early intervention work, he devised Stress Control thirty years ago as an attempt to improve outcomes for individuals while, at the same time, hugely improving efficiency by offering evidence-based help to many more people than individual approaches would allow. At the time, this was a highly unusual approach but peer-reviewed research and evaluation showing that efficiency and effectiveness could be improved upon, the class has become widely available across the world. A recent Stress Control class in Malahide, Ireland, attracted 450 people.
Jim has presented at many national and international conferences and events and acted as a National Advisor to the Scottish Government. He was involved with the European Union on how to develop mental health services across Europe using interventions he has devised including Stress Control. He has published over 40 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has written three influential books on stress management –StressPac, Harcourt Brace, 1997; Treating Anxiety and Stress, Wiley, 2000 and ‘Stress Control: a mind, body, life model to boost wellbeing’, Robinson, 2017. He co-edited The Oxford Guide to Low-intensity CBT Interventions, Oxford University Press, 2010.
Jim worked for over thirty years as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with the NHS and was the originator of the highly innovative and successful ‘Glasgow Steps’ approach to common mental health problems – an approach increasingly copied across the world.
@tam_baillie
Tam Baillie was Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People from May 2009 to May 2017. As Commissioner, Tam had a duty to promote and safeguard the rights of children and young people in Scotland through: raising awareness of children’s rights; involving children and young people in his work; and considering law, policy and practice with children and young people.
Tam worked as a manager and practitioner with children and young people for over 35 years, working in the statutory and voluntary sectors in Scotland and England. Tam’s main areas of work experience includes providing: community based supports to vulnerable children; throughcare and after care services; homeless and street-based services; and developing policy and influencing legislation through national service providers.
@Kirsten_Russell
Kirsten is a Research Assistant, and third year PhD researcher at the School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde. Kirsten has been investigating sleep for the past 7 years and her research interests lie in 1) advancing knowledge regarding consequences of poor sleep on mental health and wellbeing and 2) applying theoretical models to enhance understanding of the aetiology of suicide and self-harm. Kirsten’s current research focuses on sleep problems as a marker of risk for the onset and maintenance of self-harm during adolescence.
@hollyscott248
Holly Scott is carrying out an ESRC-funded PhD research project on adolescent social media use, sleep and wellbeing, as part of the #sleepyteens research project at the University of Glasgow. Her particular research interest lies in exploring factors that can make it difficult for young people to disengage from social media at night, despite reporting an impact on sleep. She is currently working with partner schools to support evidence-based policy and practice on adolescent social media use and wellbeing.
| Registration for this event has now closed. |
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Available to all attendees from schools
COSLA Conference Centre,
Verity House,
19 Haymarket Yards,
Edinburgh,
EH12 5BH
Tel: +44 (0)131 474 9200
www.cosla.gov.uk/conference_centre
MAP
DIRECTIONS
By Rail, Haymarket Station.
Approximately 5 minutes walk.
By Air, Edinburgh Airport.
Approximately 15 minutes away.
By car…
