Mental Health and Wellbeing | St Paul's C.E Primary School

Hindle Drive, Oldham, OL2 5LU

info@stpauls.oldham.sch.uk

0161 624 9019

Our Meeting Rooms are always calm, welcoming and relaxing

Mental Health and Wellbeing Including Physical well-being

At St. Paul's CE Primary School, we aim to promote positive mental health and wellbeing for our whole school community (children, staff, parents and carers), and recognise how important mental health and emotional wellbeing is to our lives in just the same way as physical health. We recognise that children’s mental health is a crucial factor in their overall wellbeing and can affect their learning and achievement. All children go through ups and downs during their school career and some face significant life events.

The Department for Education (DfE) recognises that: “in order to help their children succeed; schools have a role to play in supporting them to be resilient and mentally healthy”. Schools can be a place for children and young people to experience a nurturing and supportive environment that has the potential to develop self-esteem and give positive experiences for overcoming adversity and building resilience. For some, school will be a place of respite from difficult home lives and offer positive role models and relationships, which are critical in promoting children’s wellbeing and can help create a sense of belonging and community.

Our role in school is to ensure that children are able to manage times of change and stress, and that they are supported to reach their potential or access help when they need it. We also have a role to ensure that children learn about what they can do to maintain positive mental health, what affects their mental health, how they can help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues, and where they can go if they need help and support.

Our aim is to help develop the protective factors which build resilience to mental health problems and to be a school where:

* All children are valued.

* Children have a sense of belonging and feel safe.

* Children feel able to talk openly with trusted adults about their problems without feeling any stigma.

*Positive mental health is promoted and valued.

* Bullying is not tolerated.

At St. Paul's we provide wellbeing opportunities around school for members of our school community to engage in, such as glimmer rooms for wellbeing interventions or self/co-regulation, MyHappymind, Zippy Apple and Passport, forest school, mindfulness clubs, friendship benches, sensory circuits and pastoral interventions .

Please follow this link for our Mental Health and Well-Being policy.docx

The 'My Happy Mind' Parent App Video link can be found here

MIND

At St. Paul's, we regularly use the support services of the MIND charity organisation to help and support our staff and children. This is a service that provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. MIND also provide workshops and assemblies on a variety of mental health issues.

For more information about this service, please visit their website by clicking on the link below.

Daily Mile

In the Spring term we were able to have our Daily Mile track installed around our wonderful playing field. It is 213 metres long. Therefore to walk a mile you would need to walk 7 1/2 times around the track. This is used for 15 minutes, daily by classes to reinvigorate the body both physically and mentally, stimulate the brain and fill the lungs with fresh air. It provides an opportunity for children and adults to interact together and for friends to share conversations and for those more active to race around ad try to achieve a target. The health Champions have set challenges over the year to set a distance that can be achieved collectively. Parents and families are encouraged to arrive from 8.30 a.m. to begin the day actively, and children love to finish the day before going home doing one last circuit - often with their siblings.

The track has also been used for staff to hold coaching sessions and also for the to spend time talking to individual children who may require reflection and advice relating to personal issues as they may arise from time to time.

Oldham Opportunities Visit

James Kempton (Director of Opportunities and ex Chariman of Ofsted) visited St Paul's on Friday 28th June 2019. He was very impressed by the support given to pupils' well-being as the heart of everything we do. He loved the potatoes given to him and grown by our eco-club. Well done St. Paul's.

Pastoral Support

Children at St Paul’s are able to access pastoral support at selected level with Miss Ahmed (trauma informed practitioner, ELSA) and Hazel Anderson (SEMHW practitioner). The pastoral team design and implement tailored interventions to meet the emotional needs of the children referred. Following the scheme of ELSA and Trauma informed approaches, interventions can support the children to explore and process significant life events, understand, and articulate their emotions and learn skills to express and regulate in healthy ways. Our priority at St Pauls is to ensure children feel psychologically safe within our setting and have the opportunity to shine alongside an emotionally available adult. Pastoral support are accessed through an in school referral process but will be available for parental engagement upon request. Please speak to Mrs Henderson in the first instance to make an appointment.

Staff Well-being

Each half term the staff have a well-being staff meeting aimed at building team work, strengthening relationships and learning new skills.

This year we have:

received relax kids mindfulness
personal stress relief through trying Temple Spa products
learnt how to made samosas from two of our Learning Support Assistants
built a poly-tunnel together
created Easter boxes through mindful art application
worked together to select new reading material for our class libraries by attending Madeleine LIndley book centre

All staff have received individual coaching with Mrs Henderson to identify personal strengths and expertise and ways in which everyone can contribute by inputting personal interests to further develop the school.

Additional Support Services

Apps/Websites

Healthy Minds Problem-solving tool aimed at students.

InHand
An app to help young people through the ups and downs of life; it suggests activities to help based on how you rank your mood.

Mindshift Specifically for young people to help them manage their anxiety. There are lots of tools, techniques and advice.

Mood Panda
Half moodtracker, half social network. It allows children and young people to choose whether to keep their mood private or share it publicly for support from other Mood Panda users.

Mood Scope
A mood tracking tool; the basic features are free but you have to pay for more in-depth features.

Moodometer
An app as well as an online resource which helps children and young people monitor and understand their emotional wellbeing.

Personal Zen
Games that have been clinically proven to reduce stress.

Recovery Record
Self-help tool for children and young people suffering from eating disorders.

SAM (Self-Help for Anxiety Management)
Help with anxiety management which includes interactive games and tools, and an anxiety tracker.

Stop, Breathe and Think
Guide to meditation which recommends certain meditations based on how you’re feeling.

Further Contact for Mental Health Support

Sitting Right With You - to support victims of domestic abuse.

NSPCC - to protect children from any kind of abuse.

Childline - support services for children.

NHS - Mental Health and Wellbeing support page.

Samaritans – Call 116 123 (24 hours a day, 365 days a year)

If you need to talk to someone, the Samaritans can help- they offer emotional support and a listening ear 25 hours a day, 365 days a year. This is a freephone number that can even be called from a mobile that has no credit. Your call will not appear on the phone bill.

https://www.samaritans.org

Childline – Call 0800 1111 (24 hours)

Comforts, advises and protects children 24 hours a day and offers free confidential counselling.

https://www.childline.org.uk

NSPCC Helpline – Call 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk

If you’re worried about a child, even if you’re unsure, contact our professional counsellors for help, advice and support.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk

CALM Helpline – Call 0800 58 58 58

Confidential support for men, 7 days a week, 5pm to midnight, free

https://www.thecalmzone.net/

Women’s Aid – Live Chat

Information and support for women experiencing domestic violence.