Mental Health & Wellbeing
Mental Health & Wellbeing
Mental Health & Wellbeing
At St John’s every member of our school community matters to us. We aim to promote positive wellbeing and mental health for all pupils and their families as well as our own staff.
Pupils
The wellbeing and mental health of our pupils is just as important as their academic success. During the course of their education, pupils spend over 7,800 hours at school. This highlights the importance of children feeling happy and secure at school.
We teach pupils about mental health and wellbeing using the iSpace programme. https://ispacewellbeing.com/ iSpace gives pupils practical strategies for coping with challenges and provides language to help make conversations about mental health and wellbeing part of everyday life. Pupils are also taught where to access help if they need it.
Our Mental Health Coffee Morning
We invited our parents to a mental health and wellbeing coffee morning and discussed brain science and the impact of experiencing intense emotions on it.
We looked into what this looks like in the brain and the reactions we may see when this happens.
…but more importantly, we learnt what happens to our body in the flight, fright and freeze situation in order to understand our children, their needs and ourselves!
Here are some of the lovely comments received from our attending parents.
Mental health and wellbeing comes into other aspects of the curriculum such as PSHE and other parts of school life such as our worship.
In Early Years children access the SMILE programme which links together PSE, mental health and behaviour in an age appropriate way.
How children can access support for their mental health and wellbeing.
Children can talk to any adult that they trust in school.
In school there are worry boxes available for children to use if they find it hard to approach an adult.
Outside of school, children can access online material through the Young Minds charity. https://www.youngminds.org.uk/young-person/find-help/
Young Minds Text Line
Text YM to 85258
Provides free, 24/7 text support for young people across the UK experiencing a mental health crisis. All texts are answered by trained volunteers, with support from experienced clinical supervisors. Texts are free from EE, O2, Vodafone, 3, Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile, GiffGaff, Tesco Mobile and Telecom Plus.
Texts can be anonymous, but if the volunteer believes you are at immediate risk of harm, they may share your details with people who can provide support. Open 24 hours.
'Worry Box'
Mental health and wellbeing comes into other aspects of the curriculum such as PSHE and other parts of school life such as our worship.
In Early Years children access the SMILE programme which links together PSE, mental health and behaviour in an age appropriate way.
How children can access support for their mental health and wellbeing.
Children can talk to any adult that they trust in school.
In school there are worry boxes available for children to use if they find it hard to approach an adult.
Outside of school, children can access online material through the Young Minds charity. https://www.youngminds.org.uk/young-person/find-help/
Young Minds Text Line
Text YM to 85258
Provides free, 24/7 text support for young people across the UK experiencing a mental health crisis. All texts are answered by trained volunteers, with support from experienced clinical supervisors. Texts are free from EE, O2, Vodafone, 3, Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile, GiffGaff, Tesco Mobile and Telecom Plus.
Texts can be anonymous, but if the volunteer believes you are at immediate risk of harm, they may share your details with people who can provide support. Open 24 hours.
'Worry Box'
What to do if you are worried about your child’s mental health and wellbeing.
Please talk to us. In the first instance, please approach your child’s class teacher either in person or through a Class Dojo message.
We have a pathway of support in school which starts with your child’s class teacher and if needed includes a MyStar assessment which is used to capture the child’s perspective on their needs. Following on from the MyStar we can then determine what support is best for a child’s needs.
Specialised targeted approaches offered in school by a trained member of staff include: Lego Therapy, Talking and Drawing, ELSA emotional literacy support.
If needed, we may suggest a referral to CAMH’s which can be made by school or your own GP.
Outside of School Support for Parents
You are also able to contact your child’s GP who can make a referral to CAMHs. (Child and Adult Mental Health Services.)
https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/
Bereavement Support for Children
Local: http://www.wbss.org.uk/wbss-the-swing-children-young-person-counselling-services.htm
http://www.wbss.org.uk/downloads/children/the-swing-leaflet.pdf
http://www.wbss.org.uk/downloads/children/childrens_bereavement.pdf
https://www.winstonswish.org/ Parent helpline 08088 020 021
Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing
We want St John’s wo be a happy place to work. We are proud that staff turnover is low and moral is high. Staff work closely in teams and support each other on a day to day basis. We have signed up to the DfE Education Staff Wellbeing Charter. We consider workload and wellbeing in all decisions and many staff work flexibly.
We have a mental health first aider, Mrs Causier, that staff can speak to confidentially.
External support is also available: https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/
