Mental Health and Well-being
Mental Health & Well-being team
Keith Robertson - Senior Mental Health Lead
Claire Morgan - Deputy Mental Health Lead
Mental Health First Aiders -
At Conway Primary School we want to help children understand and appreciate that, just like our physical health, we all have mental health. We want our children to be able to recognise that we all respond to our experiences with our emotions, feelings, thoughts and behaviours.
It’s important to that children understand how there can be changes in their bodies which are connected to their feelings and thoughts – for example, just as in PE, when our heart beats very quickly after we have been running, the same is true when we are excited, nervous or scared.
By helping children with these concepts and getting them to think about how feelings and thoughts are linked to behaviour, we can then explain how a combination of all these elements affects our mental health.
Calmly and confidently opening up conversations in our classrooms, dining rooms and playgrounds can encourage children to discuss, to learn and realise that mental health is something we all have and that we should be aware of it and learn skills to look after it. That there might be days when we feel sad, or we struggle and other days when we feel confident and calm. Importantly, we can have a conversation about asking for help when we need support.
How we support everybody’s mental health at Conway Primary School
Here at Conway Primary we firmly believe that happy children learn, and children are directly affected by their environment and who they come in to contact with on a daily basis.
This is why we believe in supporting the whole child and our mental health offer includes children, their families, and our staff.
All our staff have regular training linked to safeguarding, supporting children’s mental health, and supporting their own mental health. There are clear systems and processes in place for identifying possible mental health concerns, including routes to escalate and clear accountability systems within our school.
Mental Health Support
We hope you find this page a useful tool that ,ay support you or your child's well-being. There are numerous local and national agencies that can support with mental wellbeing in the local community, and links to these can be found below. Please note, Conway Primary School is not the owner or creator of the resources listed below, and it should be noted that content is used at your own risk.
Link to the Royal Borough of Greenwich Local Offer
https://www.greenwichcommunitydirectory.org.uk/kb5/greenwich/directory/home.page
Greenwich Time to Talk
Website: http://oxleas.nhs.uk/advice-and-guidance/greenwich-time-talk-iapt1/
Description: Time to Talk is part of a national programme called Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT). It is for people with mild problems of anxiety or depression who are motivated to work to change the problem.
Greenwich Community Directory
Key stages: all families
Description: Resources to support families, provided by the Greenwich Community Directory.
HeadScape
Website: https://headscapegreenwich.co.uk/
Key stages: Key stages 1 and 2
Description: HeadScape is a 'one stop' source of self-help about a range of mental health issues and conditions for young people to browse at leisure.
Cosmic Kids Yoga
Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: Yoga, mindfulness and relaxation for children. Interactive adventures which build strength, balance and confidence - and get kids into yoga and mindfulness early!
Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families
Website: https://www.annafreud.org/coronavirus-support/support-for-early-years/
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: wellbeing advice for all those supporting children and young people.
British Psychological Society (BPS)
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: advice on dealing with school closures and talking to children about COVID-19.
Children’s Commissioner
Website: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/publication/childrens-guide-to-coronavirus/
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: a downloadable guide for children about coronavirus (COVID-19).
Click View
Website: www.clickview.co.uk/free
Key stages: key stage 1 and key stage 2
Description: activities to support areas of wellbeing including resilience, mental health and emotions, for primary-aged students.
JMB Education
Website: https://www.jmbeducation.com/
Key stages: key stage 1 to key stage 3
Description: mindfulness activities, soundscapes and musicscapes to help children focus on their feelings, thoughts and environment.
MindEd
Website: https://www.minded.org.uk/
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: an educational resource for all adults on children and young people’s mental health.
Muddy Faces
Website: https://muddyfaces.co.uk/outdoor-hub/
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: a range of health and wellbeing activities and resources that can be completed outdoors.
The Child Bereavement Network
Website: http://www.childhoodbereavementnetwork.org.uk/schools.aspx
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: advice on supporting grieving children during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Cruse Bereavement Care
Website: https://www.cruse.org.uk/get-help/coronavirus-bereavement-and-grief
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: advice on supporting grieving children during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Unicef UK
Key stages: all children including adults
Description: advice on supporting grieving children during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Samaritans
Website: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
Samaritans are there if you need someone to talk to, they will listen. They won't judge or tell you what to do.