A new, nationwide scheme has been announced to give school children in England and Wales the skills and resilience they need to become healthier in body and mind.

MPCT Young Leaders is the brainchild of education provider Motivation Preparation College for Training.

Its 35 Military Preparation Colleges across England and Wales use military and progressive education techniques to help young people aged between 16 and 19 across the UK achieve their potential.

Now, the multi award winning company is turning its attention to children – with a specially designed programme for primary schools.

Designed to boost happiness, health and wellbeing and personal, social and cognitive development its syllabus is delivered one day a week, in-school via a choice of programme options.

And its aim is to help schools meet Ofsted and Estyn’s character education and personal development requirements by teaching those in Years 4, 5 and 6 a range of invaluable life skills, from decision making and critical thinking, to teamwork, communication and leadership.

Created to be both fun and challenging the Young Leaders programmes also teach pupils the impact of food and nutrition on health and wellbeing and the skills to adopt healthy behaviours.

They will be shown how to value the feelings, wishes, and rights of others, learn about honesty and the importance of strong moral principles and develop a strong work ethic and desire to succeed.

The programmes will by implemented by MPCTs highly trained instructors who hold a wealth of experience and qualifications in both the military and education sectors and are fully DBS vetted.

And MPCT’s founder, Huw Lewis MBE, believes the Young Leaders initiative will equip pupils with the skills and emotional mindset they will need to succeed as they move forward.

“The importance of personal development and character education is reflected in Ofsted and Estyn’s inspection arrangements, notably personal development, and we have created our training programmes to meet that requirement,” he said.

“It is crucial to develop pupils’ confidence, resilience and knowledge so that they can keep themselves mentally healthy and to equip them for later life.

“And learners who have regular access to effective character development opportunities are more likely to be highly motivated, report fewer absences and have lower levels of emotional distress,” he added.

MPCT Young Leaders is designed to actively support school performance in key inspection judgment areas and by implementing the programme, schools can evidence their strategy and approach to character education and personal development.

Schools and local authorities can register interest or request further information by contacting the Young Leaders Team on 0300 102 1517, or alternatively at www.mpctyoungleaders.com or at youngleaders@sports.mpct.co.uk.