Mental Health and Wellbeing

'It's ok not to be ok!'

At St Peter’s, we are committed to supporting the emotional health and wellbeing of our pupils and staff.   We know that everyone experiences life challenges that can make us vulnerable and, at times, anyone may need additional emotional support. We take the view that positive mental health is everybody’s business and that we all have a role to play.  

Who can I talk to at School?

Our Senior Mental Health Lead is Hattie Friedman and she is always happy to talk about anything you may be worried about.  All our staff are ready to help and we will do whatever we can to support you and your child so please come and talk to us.

What is mental health and wellbeing?

We all have mental health, which is about our feelings, our thinking, our emotions and our moods.  Emotional wellbeing is about our ability to understand, control and express our emotions in a healthy way.   

We think it’s important that by the time children leave St Peter’s we want them to know:

• that mental wellbeing is a normal part of daily life, in the same way as physical health
• that there is a normal range of emotions that all humans experience in relation to different experiences and situations
• how to recognise and talk about their emotions, including having a varied vocabulary of words to use when talking about their own and others’ feelings
• how to judge whether what they are feeling and how they are behaving is appropriate and proportionate
• the benefits of physical exercise, time outdoors, community participation, voluntary and service-based activity on mental wellbeing and happiness
• simple self-care techniques,
• isolation and loneliness can affect children and that it is very important for them to discuss their feelings with an adult and seek support
• that bullying (including cyberbullying) has a negative and often lasting impact on mental wellbeing and what they can do about it
• where and how to seek support from a trusted adult in school, such as their listening partner
• that seeking support quickly can help to resolve problems

How do we help our pupils to be ready for challenges?

We have a well-planned Relationships and Health Education curriculum that all children take part in each week.  We follow the Coram Life Education programme which covers Me and My Relationships, Valuing Difference, Keeping Safe, Rights and Respect, Being my Best and Growing and Changing.  This curriculum helps our pupils to become emotionally literate, understand the importance of families and caring relationships, respect those who are different and feel comfortable about sharing their feelings and emotions as a normal part of school life.

A part of our school life we:

• have assemblies where we promote our school vision and values and talk about ‘big’ issues.

• actively promote equality so any pupils who feel different feel safe and secure and can be themselves

• teach about e-safety regularly in our RHE and Computing lessons to enable pupils make good decisions online and protect themselves from harm.

• Celebrate Children’s Mental Health Week every February.

• talk about bullying, including cyber bullying and what they can do it they think it is happening to them or others

• run Active 10 daily and pupils are encouraged to be as physically active as possible.  Pupils also run the Daily Mile once a half term

• teach about healthy eating through our RHE and science lessons and we help pupils to make healthy choices at lunchtime.

• take part in Children’s University so pupils can connect with life beyond their home and school by getting out and about seeing things and doing activities.

• Fundraise regularly for different local and national charities so pupils can see how they can make a difference.

What do we have on offer here to help your child?

Support Circles:  All our pupils have identified the trusted adults in their Support Circles and we encourage children to speak to their trusted adults at school and at home, if they are facing challenges.

Meaningful Minds:  A self-referral service to give pupils extra support for their emotional wellbeing.  It is run by Gladys Barcelo every Tuesday lunchtime and children can sign up by putting a slip in her box in the lunch hall. 

Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP): We have an EMPH working with us every Thursday.  Her name is Sarah Davy and she will be able to provide direct, rapid access to treatment interventions for emotional well-being difficulties. The aim is to provide additional wellbeing support to reduce treatment waiting times for children.

ConnectED Mental Health Services:  We have a trained therapist who works 1:1 with children experiencing a range of challenges.  This specialist support ensures vulnerable children and young people can develop resilience, achieve their full potential and have better chances in life.    Our therapist is called Enrique Sanchez and he is with us every Tuesday.

Rainbows Bereavement Support:  We have three members of staff who are trained in Rainbows so any child grieving a significant and often devastating loss in their lives can be understood and supported appropriately.  It gives children a safe space to talk about their feelings.

Child and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS):  Westminster CAMHS provides community mental health services to children, young people and their families with complex mental health difficulties, in a range of different ways depending on their needs.  We can make referrals to CAMHS or if you prefer you can go via your GP.

Early Help:  In Westminster, the term early help to refer to any extra support you may need for your family.  This can range from providing information, to support in your home or recommending courses that might be helpful for you. You might already be using some of these services. Many organisations across Westminster provide early help and we try to work together to make it as easy as possible for you to get the right support, at the right time in the right place.  At St Peter’s we have strong links with Early Help and we can put in touch with the right person.

If you would like to find out about any of the services listed above or just want a chat then please contact Mrs Friedman or any member of our staff.

Key websites for general information, advice and resources on child mental health and Wellbeing:

Tips for talking to children about mental health can be found using these two links:

https://mindedforfamilies.org.uk/Content/talking_to_my_child/#/id/59c0f796928ba1116a891716

https://www.annafreud.org/media/11452/tmh-parent-leaflet-final-web-updated-by-ed-april-2020.pdf

Calming and breathing strategies for parents to use with their children

Finger Breathing Pooky: - (Pooky Knightsmith)

Box Breathing Pooky (Pooky Knightsmith)

Mindful Moments

What is mindfulness? How do you do it? (Cosmic Kids) 

Be the pond (Cosmic Kids)

General information:

• Anna Freud
• Young Minds 

The Expert Parent's Guide to Childhood Anxiety

With featured advice and resources from The Children's Society, an expert guide for parents is available here to help children understand, cope and become strengthened by their experiences of anxiety at a young age. The aim of the information is to equip parents across the world with a significant bank of knowledge to ease panic and educate their children about the science of the mind.

https://tutorful.co.uk/guides/the-expert-guide-to-help-your-child-with-anxiety

Urgent Support for Mental Health