Within the Federation we place emphasis on pastoral support within each class, with teaching teams highly skilled in supporting individual pupils with their social, emotional and mental health.

In addition to our high quality, bespoke PSHEE programme which includes nationally recognised resources from the PSE Association and the Children’s Health Project we have an accredited Mental Health Lead who provides guidance and training to our teaching team, overseeing the PSHEE learning across our organisation.

Furthermore, we have four trained Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs,) two in each school setting available to undertake direct work with pupils, with regular supervision provided by educational psychologists which form part of our ‘Early Help’ offer.

We offer parenting sessions within our schools throughout the academic year and signpost external sources of support including The Parenting Hub, Suffolk Emotional Wellbeing Hub, the and the School Nursing Team. We also support families with referrals to appropriate external agencies including the CAF (Common Assessment Framework,) the Emotional Wellbeing Gateway and Healthy Suffolk.

Are you worried about something?

If you are worried, it is always good to talk to someone you trust, whether that is at home or at school. It's important to share what's troubling you.

You can always talk to the adults in school. We are all here to listen and support you. You can talk to our specially trained ELSAs, who have special dedicated time to be able to support you with whatever your worries might be.

You can tell the Worry Monster or put your worry in the worry box in your classroom.

In addition, we have support from the wonderful Annie and Sue at OM Health & Wellbeing Consultancy, with whom we work closely and regularly. Annie and Sue come into our schools and run workshops, they also provide drop-in sessions for parents and give us advice and tips on looking after our Mental Health. Annie and Sue also come into our schools to support school staff in ways to support mental health too.

Remember that if you feel like you can’t talk to a trusted adult at home or school, you can always talk to someone at Childline. Childline have given us support in school to recognise what abuse is and how to tell someone.

 

 

During PHSEE, we also learn about things which may worry us and how to be mentally healthy alongside special days dedicated to Mental Health Awareness.

 

How to ask for help:

There are lots of ways to ask an adult to help you. Here are some ideas:

"Nan, I'm feeling scared. Can I talk to you?..."

"Ms Smith, can I talk to you? I'm worried about something..."

"Dad, something happened when I was gaming. Can you help me?..."

Tell them about how you are feeling and explain what has happened. The adult should listen and help you.

 

Here are some other sources of support:

Childline - Get help and advice about a wide range of issues, call them on 0800 1111, talk to a counsellor online, send Childline an email or post on the message boards.

Mind Information and Support for Young People - Information for young people who are worried about coronavirus and want to know how to cope with changes to their lives.

Thinkuknow - Explore one of the six Thinkuknow websites for advice about staying safe when you're on a phone, tablet or computer.

 

How you can look after your health and wellbeing:

Activities to spread happiness at home - At the moment it's more important than ever to continue to spread happiness and positivity with those around us and to look after our mental health.  Activities include, creating your own top trumps, making a gratitude wall and a how to be happy scrapbook.

Active Breaks - fun physical activities to do throughout the day as a way to get active, have fun as a family and break up the day. Examples include, hide and seek, den or fort building and 'hot potato' ball games.

Circle Time Fun - fun activities that you can do offline

Childline Calm Zone - There are lots of way to feel calmer. It's about finding what works for you. Try some of our breathing exercises, activities, games and videos to help let go of stress.

The Happy Newspaper - The Happy News resource pack is a downloadable PDF full of happy news stories, activities and ideas to inspire you to look for the good. We hope it will encourage you all to look for your own happy news and acts of kindness in your schools and communities.

Practise mindfulness with Go Noodle

Try some guided relaxation: Cosmic Yoga