The DESTY Island Social and Emotional Wellbeing programme is based on research which highlights the importance for a child to develop a number of supportive, stable and committed relationships in his or her life.
Who is the DESTY Mentor?
We know that having a positive role model for a child is vital to growing their confidence, self-esteem and resilience. A DESTY Mentor is a key adult in a child's life who is willing to take on the support role for a child as they explore DESTY Island. We train parents, carers and educators to become DESTY Mentors and give them all the skills, tools and support they need. n here
DESTY Mentor Certified Training Course
Our mission is to empower educators, parents and carers to enable children to discover their strengths and become more resilient in the face of challenges.
Stephanie O'Malley, Founder & Educational Psychologist, Education DESTY Ltd
Bring DESTY To Your Home or School
Supporting Children’s Social, Emotional and Mental Well-being and Building Emotional Resilience.
Our aim to empower schools, parents, carers and other professionals to support children to develop their self-confidence, social skills and emotional resilience with our training, tools and resources including our award winning online DESTY Island Emotional Resilience Programme.
“A fantastic course that has given me the skills to be able to support vulnerable pupils in an empathetic and present way with a true understanding of their needs and strengths .”
— Nicola Champion, Wickford Primary School, Essex, UK
What is DESTY Island?
Created by Educational Psychologist & DESTY Founder Stephanie O'Malley DESTY Island is a safe, fun, interactive world where children learn about themselves, their feelings and how to manage BIG feelings.
Children visit DESTY Island online with their trained DESTY mentor is someone in their lives such as a parent, carer or educator. There they meet our wonderful character DESTY who acts as their island guide and friend. This is a one to one programme where child and mentor work together over an average of fourteen 30-40 minute guided sessions aimed at building children’s emotional resilience.
Meet your Instructor:
Stephanie Fitzgerald BA(Psych); MA(EdPsych), is passionate about giving every child at least one mentor in their lives who they can emotionally connect with, which is particularly important in early childhood to prevent mental illnesses later on in life.
As an educational psychologist for over 15 years, Stephanie developed a real concern when she started noticing more children who were disengaging from school, from friends, and important relationships in their lives, often falling under the radar or who were acting out to communicate their needs. It was from her passion and desire to try and help to meet the social and emotional needs of children around her that DESTY was born.
As busy parents, teachers, and carers in an overwhelming, technology-filled world, Stephanie’s goal is to equip the key people in children’s lives with the tools, training, and support needed to reconnect with children and to help them understand themselves and their feelings, how to cope with hard situations, and the ability to ask for help when needed.
“We have implemented DESTY within the Virtual School in Knowsley and the feedback in relation to this as an effective child-friendly tool and activity has been excellent. The DESTY programme is a well-structured programme that is helping children to identify and explore feelings and make sense of their world, which has often been complex.”
— Debbie Williams, Virtual School Head Teacher, Knowsley Virtual School
What does the DESTY Mentor Certified Training Course include?
DESTY Mentor Certified Training Course (Level 1 & Level 2)
LEVEL 1 COURSE – Developing Children’s Emotional Resilience.
LEVEL 2 COURSE – Certified DESTY Mentor Training.
Training Format: Mix of video-based, interactive, flexible, self-paced training. Live online workshops and Q&A sessions.
Course Time Commitment: 12 Hours Total.
Course Certificate: Certified DESTY Mentor Certificate.
DESTY Toolkit: 5x DESTY Island Passes. A DESTY Teddy, My DESTY Island Adventure Workbook and set of DESTY Feeling Cards will also be posted to each participants on completion of the course.
Course Resources: Range of Worksheets & Media Downloads.
This course also supports you to access and work through the nline DESTY Island Emotional Resilience Programme for yourself so you feel confident and competent to use the programme once you have gained your Mentor Certification. The completion of this course gives you access to DESTY Island to use with up to five children.
Course Bonus:
DESTY Starter Kit
The DESTY Mentor Certified Training Course also includes a DESTY Teddy, set of Feeling Cards and a DESTY Island Workbook to accompany each course purchased
Hear from some of our Certified DESTY Mentors HERE
“As a Teacher and a Parent I found the DESTY Mentor Training programme to be invaluable. It sets you a solid, scientific foundation to assist in understanding behaviours, dealing with emotions and building relationships that can lead children on a journey to becoming the best version of themselves. Delivered through online seminars with an infectious enthusiasm and passion that inspires, I cannot recommend this highly enough. ”
— Paul Cliff, Educator and Parent, UK
Why is the DESTY Mentor Certified Training Course different?
On completion of this training course you will understand how to develop a secure, stable and committed relationship with a child while using the online DESTY Island Social and Emotional Wellbeing Programme as a tool to use at home or at school to help that to happen. As part of your training you will learn how to listen and communicate more effectively with children and how to guide them through the online DESTY Island Emotional Resilience Programme where they will learn about themselves, their feelings and how to harness their feelings especially when dealing with difficult life events.
Builds Relationship & Social Skills: It promotes the development of a stable, positive relationship between a key adult and a child on a one to one basis.
Personlised Programme: Every step a child takes on their DESTY Island journey they're telling their own unique story. This can then be downloaded and shared with the key people in their life.
Offline Activities: DESTY is more than just an online programme. In fact our programme is built around online and offline activities. Each training course comes with a DESTY Resilience Toolkit including a DESTY Island Adventure Workbook, a DESTY Teddy and a pack of DESTY Feelings Cards.
Evidence Based: Our pilot study found that 80% of children who used the DESTY® Island Programme improved their emotional wellbeing.
Evaluation of Outcomes: We provide easy access to pre and post Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) so mentors can track improvements in the child's wellbeing and behaviour.
Ongoing Support: As a DESTY Mentor you are supported every step of the way from the moment you register for your training course. We offer individual support from an educational psychologist on a needs basis.
The DESTY Mentor Certified Training Course
Frequently Asked Questions
How much time do I need to commit to completing the course?
The course has been designed for you to study at your own pace, whether you only have a few minutes a day to spare or if you would prefer a more intensive learning experience. There are 6 hours of course material in total, broken down into short video-based lessons.
I’m a busy parent/carer/teacher, will I have time to complete this course?
Absolutely! Even if you can only spare 20 minutes a day, you should be able to complete the course in under 3 weeks.
I’m not good with technology, is this course for me?
Yes! You don’t need to be a technology expert to take the course, it’s easily accessible. Once you log into the course, you’ll see how simple the system is and how the easy the lessons are to follow. The team at DESTY are also with you every step of the way so you can reach out to us if there is anything you need support with.
What happens if I don’t understand something in the course or need assistance?
Don’t worry we are here to help you! We can offer you further support through our live chat feature, via email or you can even book a support call at no extra charge.
How long will I have access to the course for?
We will give you an initial 3 month period to complete this course, to encourage a 100% completion rate. If you feel like you may need longer to complete it, we are happy to give extensions. We will also send you an email once there are two weeks and two days left of access to give you the option to extend if necessary.
Who is this course for?
This course is for you if you are a parent, grandparent, foster carer, teacher, or learning support teacher who is committed to supporting children with their emotional needs, particularly those within the 6-11 year age range.