Mental Health and Wellbeing

Mental Health and Wellbeing

At Our Lady’s, we are committed to supporting the emotional health and wellbeing of our pupils and staff. We understand mental health is as important as physical health and aim to teach our children to be aware of, and to strengthen their own mental health.

 We promote mental health and wellbeing through:

  • Incorporating mental health and wellbeing into our taught curriculum, particularly though PSHE, PE and RE
  • Promoting our School Virtues, through our behaviour policy, and encouraging a sense of belonging
  • Celebrating academic and non-academic achievements in order to promote self-esteem
  • Creating a whole school shared ethos of valuing mental health and wellbeing
  • Using a shared language and consistent approach to encourage openness and confidence when discussing mental health
  • Encouraging children to develop a sense of worth through taking responsibility for themselves and others
  • Providing opportunities for self-reflection
  • Enrichment and extra-curricular opportunities and experiences

We offer different levels of support:

  • Universal Support – To meet the needs of all children through our whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing, for example through our taught curriculum
  • Additional support – To meet the needs of children who require further guidance and support, such as children receiving ELSA support or attending Lego Therapy intervention
  • Targeted support – For pupils who need more differentiated support and resources or specific targeted interventions such as 1-1 counselling and support from outside agencies

How are we currently supporting mental health and wellbeing for our pupils and staff?

  • We offer 1-1 and small group sessions with our Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. At present, we have two members of staff trained as an ELSA: Mrs. Thompson and Miss. Clark. This support includes lunch time drop in sessions
  • We have a trained Mental Health Lead in school responsible for promoting wellbeing for our staff and pupils: Mrs. Thompson (SENCO). She is supported by our mental health first aiders: Miss. Horan (Teaching assistant KS1) and Mrs. Hand (Teaching assistant KS2)
  • We have a two-year development plan (2023-2025) for establishing a culture and ethos of positive mental health and wellbeing in our school
  • We have whole school mental health and wellbeing assemblies and workshops to promote resilience and self-management
  • We include World Mental Health Day in the school calendar and plan activities for the whole school
  • Each class has a worry monster to encourage children to share their thoughts and concerns with an adult, and emotional check -ins to allow adults to recognise when children may need support

 

In addition, our school joined the Mental Health Support Team (MHST) programme in July 2023, an initiative promoted by NHS and Public Health England. The Mental Health Support Team provides our school with a wealth of guidance and support, including 1-1 counselling, small group interventions, parent and child workshops and whole school workshops and assemblies.

 

Lead staff members to contact if you are concerned about your child’s mental health:

Mrs. Thompson (SENCO)

Mrs. Wadsley (Headteacher)

Please telephone the office for an appointment if you feel you require support or advice. We are happy to help.

 

Useful links

https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/

A public health England and NHS site to help people take simple steps to look after their mental health, improve their mental wellbeing and support others.

https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/

Quality-assured information, advice and resources to help primary schools and parents of young children to understand and promote children’s mental health and wellbeing.

If you have any concerns regarding Safeguarding any child, you can contact the following Local Authority Multi Agency teams: 

Nottinghamshire County Council contact details:

Nottingham City Council contact details:

Derbyshire County Council contact details: