At Highwood Primary we recognise the importance of enabling pupils to be resilient and supporting good mental health and wellbeing. Difficulties are a part of life and sadly, many children face significant life events that can affect their emotional wellbeing. We feel it is important to acknowledge and empower children to understand their emotions whether they are positive or negative. We aim to develop their coping skills and to support them when they face challenges, enabling them to grow into healthy, well-rounded young people.
We are committed to doing everything we can to support the positive mental health of all our community – Parents, carers and staff. We are delighted to share these online resources. As always, if there is anything we can do to support you, please do not hesitate to get in touch with a member of the school team.
To support the emotional well-being needs of our school, we are fortunate to have educators that can offer Pastoral care to any child when needed. They are available to work in partnership with families and provide support to help manage times of change or difficulty.
Miss Zahidah Dodwell – Welfare Manager, Deputy Designated Safeguarding Person
Mrs Sarah Kenny – SENCo and Inclusion Lead, Designated Safeguarding Lead
Miss Lynda Marriott – Assistant Headteacher, Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
We support and promote positive mental health and wellbeing in the following ways:
Jigsaw, the mindful approach to PSHE
Jigsaw is a whole-school approach and embodies a positive philosophy and creative teaching and learning activities to nurture children’s development as compassionate and well-rounded human beings as well as building their capacity to learn.
Jigsaw has two main aims for all children:
• To build their capacity for learning
• To equip them for life
Jigsaw brings together PSHE Education, compulsory Relationships and Health Education, emotional literacy, mindfulness, social skills and spiritual development. It is designed as a whole school approach, with all year groups working on the same theme (Puzzle) at the same time at their own level. There are six Puzzles (half-term units of work) and each year group is taught one lesson per week. All lessons are delivered in an age- and stage-appropriate way so that they meet children’s needs.
Each Puzzle starts with an introductory assembly, generating a whole school focus for adults and children alike. There is also a Weekly Celebration that highlights a theme from that week’s lesson across the school encouraging children to live that learning in their behaviour and attitudes.
Identification: recognising emerging issues as early and accurately as possible.
This will include teaching pupils about mental wellbeing through the curriculum and reinforcing this teaching through school activities and ethos.
Early support: helping pupils to access evidence based early support and interventions.
Access to specialist support: working effectively with the school team and external agencies to provide swift access or referrals to specialist support and treatment.
When our mental health is good, we feel positive about ourselves. When we are finding things hard and we begin to struggle, this can impact our mental health.
We all have Mental Health. Watch this short animation
Children can find it difficult to work out how they are feeling. At school we support them through using Zones of Regulation. Below are links to various websites and resources which will help you and your child to identify their feelings and give some techniques to help:
Anna Freud Centre – Emotion Wheel
NHS – Talking to Children About Feelings
USEFUL LINKS
ChildLine is the UK’s free, confidential helpline for children and young people. They offer advice and support, by phone and online, 24 hours a day. Telephone 0800 1111
ChildLine Calm Zone focuses upon breathing exercises, activities, games and videos to help let go of stress.
https://www.childline.org.uk/toolbox/calm-zone/
MindEd is a free educational resource providing education about children and young people, adults and older people’s mental health for all adults.
Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families provides support to schools, colleges and education professionals through online advice, guidance and resources.
https://www.annafreud.org/schools-and-colleges/
Time To Change Time to Change was a social movement to change the way people think and act about mental health problems
https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/
Eating Healthily This website gives ideas and easy ways to eat well and move more.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/
Every Mind Matters free teaching resources from Public Health England support Year 6 primary school teachers and secondary school teachers to promote health, wellbeing and resilience among young people aged 10 to 16.
https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/
Go Noodle A website for movement and mindfulness activities
Action for happiness GREAT DREAM framework with its 10 keys to a happier life.
https://www.actionforhappiness.org/
Support for recovery from addiction
https://www.rehab-recovery.co.uk/