We cannot believe it’s been a year since betty for schools launched at the Education Show at the NEC in Birmingham, March 2017!

The success of the programme, which is designed to highlight both the emotional and physical aspects of period education, marks a significant first year for betty for schools. Nearly half a million pupils aged between 8-12 have experienced both the workshops and resources, contributing towards the goal of creating a generation of girls and boys who are comfortable and confident in talking about periods.

Our betty bus, used by facilitators to support and enhance learning, visited a total of 210 schools across the UK reaching approximately 17,000 pupils, and the PSHE accredited online teaching resources were downloaded over 60,000 times and shared with over 500,000 pupils. The combined efforts of both the programme’s workshops and resources resulted in reaching over half a million pupils and 3,700 schools in the UK.

Research commissioned by our betty team after the first year of school visits found that after a betty for schools workshop, 69% of girls said they felt less scared or worried about starting their period, and 81% of boys stated that they felt they knew how to support someone if they were feeling unwell or emotional due to their period.

The betty for schools programme plans to build on the year’s successes and look to 2018 as a year for change, with a focus on elevating period education to the forefront of PSHE education and the curriculum, with the aim of reaching every girl and boy aged 8-12 in the UK.

With period poverty dominating current conversations, and many schools ill-equipped with the resources they need to teach period education, betty for schools is tackling the issue by donating 40,000 pieces of femcare to the most deprived schools in the UK. 

Becky Hipkiss, Education Manager at betty for schools comments:

“It’s been an amazing first year, we knew that the bus and resources were a step in the right direction but the success has exceeded any expectations we had.

“We’re all very excited to see where this takes us, and are looking forward to pushing period education to the forefront of the curriculum in 2018, working with teachers and schools to give this important issue a larger platform, in addition to helping to tackle period poverty.

“We know that there is still a huge amount more to do if we want the topic of periods to be totally normalised for the next generation, but the feedback we’ve received has proven to us that the appetite exists!”