Norfolk RISE Up 2025: A Celebration of Courage, Connection & Community

Neil @ Future Action
Jul 7
4 min read

Recently, we welcomed six brilliant schools to Sprowston Cricket Club for our annual Norfolk RISE Up Celebration Event — an unforgettable day of movement, meaning, and joy.

Together with Norfolk Virtual School and the EAL/EDC team, we came together to celebrate the impact of trauma-informed, early intervention work happening across the county — particularly with the Virtual School cohort, children from Ukraine, and their friends.

🌟 Schools in Attendance

We were proud to be joined by:

✨ Charles Darwin Primary School

✨ Eaton Hall Specialist School

✨ Fram Earl High School

✨ Harleston Sancroft Academy

✨ Sprowston Community Academy

✨ Woodland View Junior School

Awesome educators from each of these schools has worked with passion and care to embed the RISE Up programme — helping young people feel safe, seen, and supported.

💪 RISE Up in Action: A Day of Purposeful Play

We kicked off the morning with a high-energy Raving 'Fit' energiser — music, movement, and creativity flowing freely as young people choreographed their own motifs and danced together.

It was the perfect way to boost endorphins and set the tone for a day rooted in joy, safety, and connection.

Throughout the day, young people rotated through trauma-informed activities grounded in the RISE framework:

🤝 Zoneball

An Inclusive Team activity designed to build trust, teamwork and belonging — a powerful reminder that everyone has a role and a place.

🥊 Boxercise Stress Busters

Helping young people safely release stress and frustration, regulate their nervous systems, and build resilience through structured physical challenge.

🎲 Play Wrapped in Care

This session focused on helping children who may be stuck in emotional states like rage, grief or shame gently shift toward states of play, care, and seeking.

Through joyful, nurturing movement, young people reconnected with themselves and others.

And finally...

🌈 The Colour Run Finale

Laughter, colour, and celebration filled the field. A fitting, joyful end to the day — and a chance to reflect on everything achieved, together.

💬 “We had a really wonderful day. The boys thoroughly enjoyed it, and I received some lovely comments from parents upon our return. The team were incredibly patient and adaptable — it was a real success.”— Danielle Burgess, Deputy Headteacher, Eaton Hall School

📈 A Programme Making a Difference

Over the past three years, the Norfolk RISE Up programme has:

Supported over 50,000 young people
Upskilled more than 1,000 educators
Reached over 150 schools across the county

All thanks to the incredible partnership with Norfolk Virtual School and the EAL/EDC team — and the commitment of our network of hero educators.

Together, we’re helping schools co-create bespoke, whole-school approaches to early mental wellbeing support.

🎯 Our Shared Aims

The Norfolk RISE Up programme is built around four core aims:

1️⃣ Identify young people struggling with their mental health early and direct them to specialist support

2️⃣ Equip them with practical self-care tools

3️⃣ Use movement to support emotional regulation and resilience

4️⃣ Develop a trauma-informed frontline of educators across the county

🏫 Spotlight on Schools: Real Impact in Action

All six schools have embedded RISE Up in powerful ways — and we were proud to highlight their work.

One standout example is Harleston Sancroft Academy, where the team have continued to build on their wellbeing pathway to create safe spaces and meaningful movement opportunities across the school.

👉 Read their full case study here

Woodland View Junior School have done a brilliant supporting their young people through transition to secondary school. 👉 Read their full case study here

Charles Darwin Primary School have focused on transition and supporting some of their awesome children through a RISE Up Sport Sanctuary to boost attendance. 👉 Read their full case study here

We’ll be sharing more school case studies over the coming months.

🙌 Thank You

We want to thank everyone who helped make the day so special:

💛 The brilliant educators and students from all six schools

💛 The Norfolk Virtual School and EAL/EDC team

💛 Sprowston Cricket Club for hosting us

💛 Matthew Potter Photography and our Future Action team

And to the young people — your smiles, courage and energy lit up the day.

💡 How You Can Get Involved

The educators who made this possible completed our:

Then, with support from our team and community, they co-created a strategy that matched their context and their children’s needs.

Do You Want To Take The First Steps To Improving Your Students’ Wellbeing?

✅ [1] Complete your School Wellbeing Scorecard – it takes just 3 minutes to map your current provision and identify key areas to strengthen:👉 Complete the Scorecard here

📝 [2] Join our waiting list – to explore partnerships, training, consultancy, speaking opportunities, or to get your copy of Time to RISE Up:

👉 Join the Waiting List here

Have a brilliant week, and thank you for all you do for your young people.

Neil Moggan and the Future Action team

P.S. 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter – stay informed with the latest wellbeing insights and practical tools for your setting:👉 Subscribe Here