St Albans school adopts new wellbeing app

Samuel Ryder Academy has become the first school nationwide to introduce the wellbeing app T-Cup to their students and teachers.

T-Cup is designed to improve well-being by tracking happiness and health through self-reflection and assessment, and has a proven success rate in councils, charities, elite sport teams and across the NHS.

Founders Ed Van Rooyan and Lee Mears, a former England Rugby Union player and British and Irish Lions player, met students and staff last Thursday to introduce T-Cup and discuss how the wellbeing platform will encourage happiness, health and success throughout life.

The app is a fun and easy to use communication tool designed to help students thrive in their daily lives by supporting their wellbeing and mental health through engaging content.

Health, happiness and success drive the nine key aspects of the app by focusing on diet, activity, hydration, relationships, sleep, mood, stress, ambition and financial wellbeing.

Taking only 60 seconds to complete each day, it works by students rating each key area on a sliding scale from ‘Needs Work’ to ‘Thriving’.

Lee said after the launch: “In sport and in life there are many highs and lows, and a progressive growth mindset and positive attitude is so important to unlocking individual and team performance.

"Having spent the day with Samuel Ryder Academy I’m encouraged that the next generation are in safe hands as the Academy have shown both these attributes – in spades!”

Assistant headteacher Ed Coy said: “At Samuel Ryder Academy we recognise that student wellbeing is an important component of their school life. We are so pleased to be working alongside T-Cup to further support our school community in order to be able to self-reflect and regulate in an innovative way.”

Ed Van Rooyen added: “It was an absolute privilege spending the day with the teaching and support staff of Samuel Ryder Academy introducing our T-Cup app to the pupils.

"Seeing the enthusiasm of everyone involved was contagious and knowing that we are empowering the next generation of 'well-being warriors' is heartening as our vision of making the world a little healthier, happier and more successful for each and every person continues.”