The Invictus play, performed by Alter Ego, was received well by a range of pupils from Year 10, up to Year 14. This play aims to raise awareness of the differing forms of childhood adversity, to identify core skills that can be nurtured to mitigate the damage of toxic stress and help to overcome a whole host of critical life moments. It aims to inspire hope and resilience amongst young people that may be experiencing adversity in their lives and sign-post where young people can go to for help and advice.

“My take on the ‘Invictus Play’ is that it dealt with some very serious topics, but put it in a way that anyone can enjoy, especially teens. It didn’t feel forced to relate to people our age as some presentations and other things like this may do. I loved the different sections of the different stories as each one drew you in, especially for the characters who were reluctant to share their stories in front of the others, to finally express their struggles, which can be very relatable to some people. The power of the repetition of the Invictus topic was really powerful.”

Hannah Neeson, Year 13