Imagine.... with all your mind, Believe.... with all your heart, Achieve....with all your might.
Mental health & WELL-BEING
At Scotts Primary School we know the importance of all members of our community being healthy in both body and mind. The world in which we live can be an uncertain and constantly changing place and now more than ever we must pull together to support one-another.
As such we have- and will continue to- invest a lot of time and resources into promoting mental well-being within school. We are proud to be a Mentally Healthy School and are working collaboratively with both staff in school and with external agencies to ensure that we are able to offer support to those who need it.
There will always be challenges that arise for children and adults that can affect their ability to be happy and successful and we are very proud of the supportive team that we have developed who are on hand to support during these times.
As parents and carers, you are a vital part of our school community and if you are concerned about your own mental health, we can signpost you towards agencies that can support you too.
Our pastoral team
Mrs J Taylor - Senior Mental Health Lead and SENDCo
Mrs S Sfaltos - School Counsellor
Mrs J Monk - ELSA
Mrs M Walsh - ELSA
"After it's been raining, the sun comes out... that's when you see a Rainbow!" Lexi,
"The rainbows are there when there isn't rain too.. it's there to see the sun!" Alfie
"Rainbows are made by all different colours... the children in our school are all different and we are all part of our school rainbow!" Millie
"I am a rainbow! I wear my badge so that everyone knows that they can talk to me if they need a friend!" Ruby
Mental Health Policy
Wellbeing Award for Schools
We are delighted that we have been recognised for our commitment to wellbeing as a school and have received the Wellbeing Award for Schools (June 2023).
We had to provide a range of evidence for each of the eight objectives and present our findings to be validated. Support from parents and pupils was key in completing this award. A very positive accolade for us as a school and one that demonstrates the commitment we have for wellbeing from all stakeholders.
Wellbeing Award objectives
1. The school is committed to promoting and protecting positive emotional wellbeing and mental health by achieving the WAS.
2. The school has a clear vision and strategy for promoting and protecting emotional wellbeing and mental health, which is communicated to all involved with the school.
3. The school has a positive culture which regards emotional wellbeing and mental health as the responsibility for all.
4. The school actively promotes staff emotional wellbeing and mental health.
5. The school prioritises professional learning and staff development on emotional wellbeing and mental health.
6. The school understands the different types of emotional and mental health needs across the school and has systems in place to respond appropriately.
7. The school actively seeks the ongoing participation of the whole-school community in its approach to emotional wellbeing and mental health.
8. The school works in partnership with other schools, agencies and available specialist services to support emotional wellbeing and mental health.
In school provision
School Vision & Values
Together, children and teachers have developed some school values to promote the ethos of the school and ensure that everyone is sharing in our school vision of imagining, believing and achieving, while feeling safe and confident to do so.
Our School Values are:
Respect
Fairness & Compassion
Uniqueness
Team work & Exploration
Resilience
Creativity & Innovation
In the Classroom
We ensure that school rules are established early for the safety and well-being of everyone.
- "Good to be Green" behaviour system to celebrate positive behaviour and support children in regulating whether they are being the best versions of themselves.
- Teacher and Teaching Assistants work hard to build strong relationships with the children to ensure that children feel happy to share their concerns.
- Worry Boxes in which children can post their worries in the knowledge that a member of staff will always check in with them.
- PSHE curriculum
- Circle time
- Celebratory days (e.g Good to be Different Day) where children are encouraged to recognise and understand our differences.
On the Playground
All of our midday staff have received training around safeguarding and supporting effective play.
Some of our team have received specialist training to meet specific needs of children within our school, including administering emergency medication and autism awareness.
Zones of Regulation
We have introduced the 'Zones of Regulation' to the children. This approach helps children to recognise and understand their feelings. It teaches them, in a simple way, that all feelings are OK. We sometimes just need some help with strategies in knowing what to do with these feelings. This approach can be really helpful at home too.
Additional support
- Pastoral team observation
- Meeting with parent/carers
- EP consultation
- Inclusion consultation
- Pupil assessments
- CAMHS drop-in session - staff and/or parent
- Parent surgery
- School nurse
- Therapies - art club, use of rainbow room, positive book, in-school counselling, diary writing, lunchtime clubs
- Additional resources - workstation, visual timetable, checklists, fidget toy, weighted cushion
- Interventions/approaches - Comic strip conversations, social stories, Time to Talk group, Lego Therapy
- Signposting to LA and National agencies (see useful links as guidance)
Parent workshops
We led a parent workshop on the theme of anxiety this term, talking about what anxiety is, sharing our in school strategies and some ideas and resources to use at home.
Here are the videos that were shared:
External support
Parenting Smart
This site is designed for parents and carers of 4-11 year olds. The Parenting Smart site is completely free to use and access, full of tips and advice on a range of topics including transition to secondary school, meltdowns, and sleep difficulties. Visit our full site for the latest resources.
The benefits of forest and outdoor learning to child development
An educational guide with 50 outdoor experiences by Forest Holidays.
https://www.forestholidays.co.uk/outdoor-education-and-child-development-guide/
The guide covers a few essential things:
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Statistics on how much outdoor experiences help children learn.
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The important skills like confidence and responsibility that kids learn by being outdoors.
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How outdoor activities help young students in developing social and exercise-related routines.
CAMHS parent drop in sessions
Havering CAMHS offer monthly virtual drop-in sessions to parents and students who require support or guidance with concerns around emotions, anxiety, ASD, behaviour, depression, relationship issues and more. You will receive a ParentMail when these are available to sign up to.
Urgent mental health support - 24/7
If at any point your family needs urgent mental health support, please use the services on this document:
Havering Educational Psychology Service
Havering Educational Psychology service are offering a parents helpline which aims to support parents/carers who are worried or concerned about their child. Sessions can last up to 40 minutes and an EP will listen to your concerns and discuss ideas with you to help you consider what to do next. All discussions are confidential, and aim to be informal and supportive. Please see their flyer for more information.
Useful links
Mental health
CAMHS - Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Havering)
You and Me counselling - Hornchurch based counselling and therapy service
Young Minds - support for parents and children.
Place2be - improving children's mental health
Havering Mind- support for depression and mental health needs
Mind - support for depression and mental health needs
Charlie Waller Memorial Trust- resources and advice to support mental health
Teen Mental Health - A Parents Guide
Kooth - Mental well-being in the community
Yoppie - Mental health, puberty and menstruation
Havering Directory - Emotional Well-being for Children and Young People
Bereavement
Winston's Wish- supporting children through bereavement
Cruse - bereavement support
https://www.haveringmind.org.uk/services/crisis-counselling-and-bereavement-service/
Hope again - helping young people after loss
Saint Francis Hospice (bereavement/critical illness support)
Other specialist services
Childline - Telephone - 0800 1111 - Support for children in need
NSPCC - Keeping children safe, including from online abuse
Home Start - Support for families
Coping with self harm - A guide for parents
Al-Anon UK - alcohol abuse support
BEAT - Eating disorders support
Barnado's - adoption support, supporting vulnerable young people
Samaritans - crisis support (Call 116 123 for 24 hour crisis support)
Mermaids - supporting gender-diversity
Papyrus - suicide prevention
Wellbeing Award article in HES magazine
Mental health pathway of support in school
The Rainbow Room
The Rainbow Room is a calm and safe space within our school that is accessible for all children when they need somewhere to escape the stresses of daily life. We have access to resources within this room that can support children when they are finding it hard to explain how they are feeling or to cope with overwhelming emotions. We aim to support children in managing and resolving issues before they grow or develop into bigger issues.
Our Rainbow Team
Our Rainbow Room is used to provide specialised support from either our school Counsellor or by our ELSAs.
Mrs Sfaltos is a qualified and experienced counsellor who is well equipped to tailor support for the individual children that she works with. This is usally with a series of 10 sessions.
The aim of her support is to equip children with the skills they need to cope with and manage their emotions in the future.
Miss Green, Mrs Monk and Mrs Walsh are our school Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs) working with either small groups of children or individuals to support them in developing their emotional literacy. This means understanding and implementing strategies to improve the way that they think and feel, usually in relation to themselves.
Areas that our ELSAs can support can include:
- Recognising emotions
- Self-esteem
- Social skills
- Friendship skills
- Anger management
- Loss and bereavement.
Rainbow Champions
Rainbow Champions are a group of children who have been recognised as being good friends to all. These children are known in school as our Rainbow Champions and can be recognised by their rainbow badges and lanyards. On the playground they have their own hi-vis jackets that show they are Rainbow Champions.
They work as a team to help their peers in resolving issues and meet on a half termly basis with Mrs Sfaltos to take part in training activities.
One of their special jobs is to help children on the playground and also support with children in our 'Over the Rainbow' lunchtime club each week.
Over the Rainbow club
Some children can find lunchtimes overwhelming, for a number of reasons. At Scotts, we want to provide a safe, happy space for children to be at lunchtimes, away from the busyness of the playground. 'Over the Rainbow' is a club led by a member of the Rainbow Team each day and supported by the Rainbow Champions. Children get to enjoy taking part in a range of fun, calming activities and includes a mindfulness session at the end. They also have the opportunity to talk about any worries or difficulties they may be experiencing, linked to lunchtime or any other aspect of school life.
World Mental Health Day
We raise further awareness of mental health every year, by supporting World Mental Health Day. This year, we fundraised for Havering Mind, raising more than £400.
Children's Mental Health Week
To mark the end of Children's Mental Health Week we hosted a coffee morning for parents, following lots of lovely activities that the children had been doing throughout the week. It helped us to raise awareness of the provision in school and was a really positive well-being morning.
Confidence and self-esteem
Growth mindset
An inspirational Ted Talk about a growth mindset and the power of 'yet'.
Mindfulness
The NHS recognise mindfulness as a tool for helping us to understand ourselves and live a happier life. It focuses on being present in the moment.
This can be a great tool to combat anxiety, depression or to just help mentally well people to enjoy life in the moment.
Mindfulness can also be a helpful approach to use for times of stress at home, including improving sleep. Here is a clip that we recommend for helping children to settle down to bedtime.
The Cosmic Kids Zen Den is an excellent mindfulness tool and one that children are familiar with due to use in the classrooms.
