Mental Health and Wellbeing
PUPIL MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Highfield Primary School offers a safe, happy and caring environment. We have a unique family atmosphere where each child is valued as an individual, we encourage their love of learning and promote their natural curiosity through a variety of experiences, opportunities and challenges. We have a supportive and caring ethos and our approach is respectful and kind, where each individual and contribution is valued.
At our school, we recognise that positive mental health and wellbeing are essential to the development of thriving and successful pupils. It is therefore vital to our aims that we provide high quality mental health and wellbeing support. We endeavour to ensure that children are able to manage times of change and stress are aware of where they can go if they need help and support.
To support your child, we will send out well-being questionnaires each term and would be grateful if you could complete them so that we can provide appropriate support where needed.
If, in the meantime, you are concerned about your child’s mental Health and well-being, please do not hesitate to speak to their class teacher, Miss Helme (Mental Health and Well-Being Lead), Mr Glyn-Jones (Mental Health and Well-being Lead) or Mrs Wakes (Pastoral and Learning Mentor).
MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING RESOURCES
USEFUL CONTACTS
Childline – Worried or need to talk? Call Childline on 0800 1111. This is a free call and you don’t need to tell them your name. They are there to talk all day and night, whatever your worry.
FIVE WAYS TO WELLBEING
Research suggests that there are five steps that we can all take to improve our mental health and well-being. At Highfield, we are promoting these with the children and it would be beneficial for you to continue this at home. Trying out a variety of activities in these areas can help us to feel more positive and able to get the most out of life, which is particularly important in this continued time of uncertainty. For further details, please follow the link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/improve-mental-wellbeing/
NETWORK OF SUPPORT
Children at Highfield are encouraged to consider building a network of people that they can turn to for support beyond their parent. To be able to ask for help when they have a worry or just need to talk to someone, is an important skill children can start building as soon as they enter school and is something that they will benefit from all of their lives.
The people in your child’s support network should be ones that they can trust and can rely on for practical and emotional help. They may come from different places in their life and may change as they get older.
How you can help your child to build their own support network: –
1. Model how to ask for, and offer help
It is important that your child knows that everyone needs help sometimes, not just them, and that it is okay to ask for it. You can model this at home by asking your child for help when you need it and show your appreciation. Your child can also benefit from seeing you supporting others and by doing this, they can also see other people accept help.
2. Start backing away from helping your child
As children get older, they constantly face new challenges. As a parent, it is natural to want to help but it is important for your child to start to handle some of their problems with you too. That includes finding others who can offer support and advice. It takes confidence to address a problem with a friend but the sooner they start to do this themselves the sooner their confidence will increase and they will recognise that their thoughts and feelings are important. By developing this skill, we are preparing our children for dealing with issues at secondary school and beyond.
3. Widen the circle
The more your child does outside the home, the more opportunities they have to meet people who may be good sources of support. Getting your child involved in activities in the community is always a good way of developing friendships and widening their network.
Please see below for our Pupil Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy
