Mental Health and Well-being
At Laceby Stanford Primary Academy we work hard to ensure that everyone is safe and happy. This includes trying to ensure that the mental health and wellbeing of everyone in the school community is adequately supported. The following guidelines help us to do that.
Well-being for Parents
Here are links to useful information to support a healthy lifestyle.
Barnardo’s ‘See Hear Respond’ service
See Hear Respond is a service provided across England by Barnardo’s and other national and local community-based organisations in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The programme has been created to help children and young people in England who are experiencing harm and increased adversity during this period by providing support to those who are not being seen by social care or other key agencies.
Working with its partners, Barnardo’s aims to reduce the likelihood of harm and ensure other support and protective networks are in place.
See Hear Respond accept referrals from any source either through the Freephone number 0800 151 7015 and via the online referral hub.
Useful Groups
Mental health support
Whatever your age, anyone struggling with their mental health or who is in a mental health crisis, can call NAViGO 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on (01472) 256256 (option 3), Freephone 08081 968442 or text ORANGE to 85258.
Alternatively, you can call NHS 111 free from a landline or mobile phone.
Bereavement:
Cruse: 0808 808 1677 or go to www.cruse.org.uk
Cruse also works with St Andrew’s Hospice in Grimsby to offer bereavement support for adults and children. To find out more please call 01472 250623 or go to www.standrewshopsice.com
Financial:
HEY Credit Union NEL can help with finances, budgeting, loans, and benefit plans. Find out more at: www.hullandeycu.co.uk/contact-us or tel 01482 778753.
General:
connectNEL: The team can link people to adult and child services, housing, events, social groups, and more. Call Connect NEL (01472 403403), available 24/7.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
NAViGO’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) - often referred to locally as Young Minds Matter - is a free NHS service that supports children and young people with a wide range of mental health and emotional wellbeing difficulties, including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self-harm, obsessions and the effects of abuse or trauma. And if you’re a parent or carer, CAMHS can offer support to you as well as your child.
Referrals to CAMHS can be made by any professional, such as your child’s GP or teacher.But if you would like to discuss a possible referral, please call the NAViGO CAMHS team on (01472) 252570 (Monday to Friday, 9am - 4.30pm) or visit navigocare.co.uk/camhs for more information.
Kooth offers a free, safe and anonymous online mental wellbeing community for young people. The site offers helpful articles and discussion boards, daily journals for recording feelings and emotions, and a place to chat to members of the Kooth team. For more information, visit www.kooth.com.
CompassGo have Mental Health Support Teams working in all of the schools and colleges in North East Lincolnshire. THye work with children and young people aged 5 to 19, and with their families. Through low-intensity interventions to help with low mood, anxiety, exam stress, self-harm and managing relationships. For support, call: 01472 494 250
Compass Go
Helpful Videos
NELC Domestic Abuse + Covid-19
We know that COVID-19 will have serious impacts on the lives of women, children and men who are experiencing domestic abuse. They may feel unsafe with the prospect of being isolated in the house with their perpetrator and the current restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the virus are likely to result in an increase in domestic abuse incidents.
Please be reassured that numerous local and national domestic abuse support services remain in place and are working hard to ensure they can still offer support during this challenging time.
If you, or someone you know, are affected by domestic abuse, call Women’s Aid (who support both men and women) on 01472 575757.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999 and ask for the police. If you can’t speak, dial 999 and then 55 to still get help.
For contact details of further domestic abuse support services visit: www.safernel.co.uk/domestic-abuse
Action for Happiness have 'Ten keys to happier living'
Giving: Do things for others
Relating: Connect with people
Exercising: Take care of your body
Awareness: Live life mindfully
Trying out: Keep learning new things
Direction: Have goals to look forward to
Resilience: Find ways to bounce back
Emotions: Focus on what's good
Acceptance: Be comfortable with who you are
Meaning: Be part of something bigger
Each month the organisation publish a happiness calendar, September is Self-care Month. Whether you do the activities suggested on the right day or not; there are some really useful prompts.
Useful Links
The Lullaby Trust - safe sleeping tips for keeping babies safe in hot weather
Mentally Healthy Schools - information on Sleep and Mental Health
Mental Health and Wellbeing for parents & easing lockdown - local guidance on supporting parents mental health and wellbeing.
Want to know more about sleep? (pdf)
Children and young people under 18 years with eating disorders (pdf)
What is positive mental health?
Good mental health is of fundamental importance to learning. When young people are happy, they can be attentive and receptive to new ideas and concepts.
Mental health is how we feel, how we think and how we behave. Mental Health promotion for children and young people is everybody’s business.
It is about:
- being able to form and maintain relationships with others
- being adaptable to change and other people’s expectations
- being able to have fun
- being open to learning
- being able to develop a sense of right and wrong
- being able to develop the resilience to manage ordinary setbacks.
We recognise that all children and young people need the foundation of positive mental health to benefit fully from all of the opportunities available to them.
All children and young people need to:
- be able to connect with others by participating in groups and teams
- know they are capable and able to achieve
- know they count in their world and can contribute to their community
- know they have courage and can manage risks appropriately.
Positive Penguins:
An app to teach you how to catch your thinking and challenge it to be more optimistic, resilient and mindful?
Positive Penguins is an award winning, top ranked, fun educational app developed for children to help them understand why they feel the way they do and help them challenge their negative thinking. The app aims to help children understand their feelings come from their own thoughts not the situations. Often the anxiety and stress we feel comes from not real threats, but stories we make up in our heads. The four positive penguins take you on a journey to help you understand that feelings arise from your thinking and if you challenge your negative thoughts successfully you may be able to see things in a more realistic and even optimistic way.
Children often feel anxious, angry, frustrated, bullied, worried etc and that is normal – however, few children are taught to be mindful, catch the thoughts that led them to these feelings and challenge them if needed. They can then change the way the feel and behave.
Why do we promote positive mental health?
Everyone experiences life challenges that can make us vulnerable. At times, anyone may need additional support to maintain or develop good mental health. We should be aware that –
- 1 in 10 children and young people aged 1 – 15 years have a clinically recognisable mental disorder in any one year.
- 1 in 4 adults will experience mental health difficulties; at least half of these difficulties can be traced back to childhood.
The mental health of children and young people, adults in school, parents and carers and the wider whole school community will impact on all areas of development, learning, achievement and experiences. All children and young people have the right to be educated in an environment that supports and promotes positive mental health for everybody. All adults have the right to work in an environment that supports and promotes positive mental health for everybody.
Laceby Stanford Primary Academy recognises these needs and rights. We are committed to raising awareness, increasing understanding and ensuring that we can and do make a difference by providing a place where all children and young people feel safe, secure and able to achieve and experience success and well-being.
At Laceby Stanford Primary Academy we offer a learning environment that promotes and enhances positive mental health. A consistent approach means that our school environment and school ethos all promote the mental health of the whole school community.
What does a healthy environment look like?
Healthy relationships underpin positive mental health and have a significant impact.
A mentally healthy environment has:
- a clear and agreed ethos and culture that accords value and respect to all
- a commitment to being responsive to children and young people’s needs
- clear guidelines for internal and external referrals
- strong links with external agencies to provide access to support and information
A mentally healthy environment is a place where children and young people:
- have opportunities to participate in activities that encourage belonging
- have opportunities to participate in decision-making
- have opportunities to celebrate academic and non-academic achievements
- have their unique talents and abilities identified and developed
- have opportunities to develop a sense of worth through taking responsibility for themselves and others
- have opportunities to reflect
- have access to appropriate support that meets their needs
- have a right to be in an environment that is safe, clean, attractive and well cared for
- are surrounded by adults who model positive and appropriate behaviours, interactions and ways of relating at all times.
A mentally healthy environment is a place where staff:
- have their individual needs recognised and responded to in a holistic way
- have a range of strategies that support their mental health, e.g. a named person to speak to, signposting
- have recognition of their work-life balance
- have the mental health and well-being of the whole staff reviewed regularly
- feel valued and have opportunities to contribute to decision-making processes
- celebrate and recognise success
- are able to carry out roles and responsibilities effectively
- are provided with opportunities for CPD both personally and professionally
- have their unique talents and skills recognised and opportunities are provided for development
- have time to reflect
- can access proactive strategies and systems to support them at times of emotional needs in both the short term and the long term.
A mentally healthy environment is a place where parents/carers:
- are recognised for their significant contribution to children and young people’s mental health
- are welcomed, included and work in partnership with schools and agencies
- are provided with opportunities where they can ask for help when needed
- are signposted to appropriate agencies for support
- are clear about their roles and expectations of their responsibilities in working in partnership with schools
- opinions are sought and valued and responded to
- strengths and difficulties are recognised, acknowledged and challenged appropriately.
A mentally healthy environment is a place where the whole school community:
- is involved in promoting positive mental health
- is valued for the role it plays in promoting positive mental health
- contributes towards the ethos of the school.
A healthy learning environment provides opportunities that promote positive mental health, through the standard curriculum and extended provision, e.g. SMSC, pastoral support, play therapy, coaching sessions, differentiated learning activities, individual timetables, challenging stereotypes, etc.
The implementation of these guidelines for promoting positive mental health in school:
- will give a cohesive and co-ordinated approach to mental health
- should underpin all policies and practices currently used in school
- will raise awareness as to how the whole school community can look after their own mental health and that of others
- will help to de-stigmatise mental health
- will support people and provide opportunities that enable everyone to reach their potential
- will strengthen relationships and provide opportunities for different ways of working
- will provide foundations for life-long learning
- will promote and strengthen resilience throughout the whole school community and empower everyone to face life’s challenges.
How can we measure impact?
This guidance offers opportunities to measure the impact in a variety of ways, e.g. school’s ethos, staff well-being, feedback from the whole school community, number of external referrals, improved relationships.
The promotion of positive mental health for children and young people is everybody’s business.
Activities
World Mental Health Day
To recognise this the children had some time for a ‘drink and chat’ as a part of our ‘Wellbeing Wednesday’. It’s always good to make time for a chat with your friends.
Transition assembly with Compass Go
Zowie, our link worker Compass GO. NEL Mental Health Support Team came and delivered a whole school assembly to our pupils on transition. She shared how pupils may be feeling as they move to a new class, gave us strategies to help if we are feeling a little worried or scared and what may help us. Thank you Zowie!
Creative Summer
Compass Go workshop- Test stress 🧠
Year 6 had a great session with Zowie all about SATs and stress. We looked at our brain bullies vs brain besties, and how we can turn negative thoughts into positive thoughts! It was a very helpful session, and we will be using some of the strategies Zowie taught us over the next few weeks!
Chill club
Today in chill club we started by listening to classical music with refreshments to transition from a busy school day to a calm environment. Once we were calm, we looked at oil pastels and shading techniques. We created lots of different pictures and once we got the hang of it, we drew peaceful pictures including sunsets, rivers, and natural sceneries.
Peer Mentors Assembly on Relationships
Our wonderful Peer Mentors delivered an assembly to the whole school, alongside Children’s mental health week, around the theme of relationships.
The Peer Mentor group had identified that relationship / friendship difficulties was something that pupils needed support with and decided that they would like to do something to help the school in this area.
The group met with Zowie on a number of occasions to plan a special assembly that the group would deliver to all pupils at Laceby Stanford Primary Academy.
As the theme for this years Children’s Mental health week is ‘My voice matters’ it was felt an excellent opportunity to demonstrate this by the group delivering an assembly to help teach their fellow students key skills and strategies to help use their voices to talk to people about how they are feeling and also resolve any conflicts.
All of the teachers, pupils (and Zowie from Compass Go) were unbelievably proud of the group and wanted to share what a fantastic assembly this was! An important message delivered by the pupils for Laceby Stanford Primary Academy, the community and parent and carers- well done!
Compass Go Assembly Compass GO. NEL Mental Health Support Team
Zowie, our link worker from Compass GO. NEL Mental Health Support Team came and delivered an assembly to pupils on Sleep and different strategies we can do to ensure we have a good nights sleep. Thank you Zowie!
Creative assembly writing
Some of our Peer Well-being Mentors have been busy working with Zowie Compass GO. NEL Mental Health Support Team to create an assembly to deliver to the whole school on Anti-bullying. They worked collaboratively to write the assembly and will be delivering this in the new year. Keep looking as we will be recording this to share with all our parent/ carers!!
Music Therapy Club
What are the benefits of music therapy?
It provides an excellent means to increase communication, interaction and social skills, as well as enhancing physical skills and promoting overall well-being.
The children are really enjoying our Thursday after school club, led by Mr. James. Each week they explore a wide variety of instruments and use technical equipment to play well-known tunes, as well as composing their own music.
The children spoke positively to Mrs. Brady:
It’s fun because you learn different music.
I like being a DJ and choosing and mixing my own songs.
I like learning how to play songs and also making up my own music.
I learnt how to play ‘We Will Rock You’ this week.
Playing music every week makes me feel very happy.
Well-being Wednesday
Year 1 enjoyed some yoga on Wednesday afternoon as part of our ‘Well-being Wednesday’ choice.
We love to follow the instructions and relax and have fun at the same time. During today’s adventure we travelled in a hot air balloon, climbed a tree and found treasure at the bottom of the sea.
Pupil 1: ‘I love Cosmic Kids Yoga’
Pupil 2: ‘I’m really good at balancing on one leg.’
Pupil 3: ‘It’s always a fun story adventure.’
Staff Well-being 🎃
For our staff well-being we have made a gratitude pumpkin. Staff members are asked to write what they are grateful for. Once we have finished with the pumpkin, we will put this in our nature area to re-use the pumpkin to be environmentally friendly!
Lavender Bags
'Stanford Menopeer Group' meet together to support each other with the menopause.
Some members find they have some trouble sleeping - our wellbeing committee gather and make lavender bags to help release the essential oils which are known to have calming properties. Thank you! We are looking forward to a dreamy sleep!
Compass Go Workshop
Year 6 had a great session with Zowie from Compass Go. We looked at positive and negative relationships and how to spot them and also how to manage friendship issues from low, medium and high problems and how best to deal with these. Sometimes we may need to compromise with friends if they are doing something that makes you unhappy. We also looked at social media and ensuring we only engage with friends.
‘ I really liked taking part in the I can statements, it was a lot harder than I thought!’
‘ Healthy and unhealthy relationships are important to identify’
‘ I know that I can solve problems with my friends’
Peer Mentoring Training with Compass Go!
At Laceby Stanford Primary Academy we care about positive mental health and wellbeing and want to support anyone who may need help. Sarah at Compass Go came this week to train some of our Year 5 and 6 pupils to become our new Peer mentoring group. This group learnt all about positive well-being and what they can do to support others who may be struggling- offering advice, finger breathing, grounding technique etc These pupils will be a champion to our peers! Listening to what pupils need, helping others to improve their own wellbeing and learning about mental health. We want tio ensure ALL pupils at Laceby Stanford Primary Academy:
- Feel good in both body and mind
- Feel enjoyment or calmness
- Are interested in new things
- Have healthy relationships and friendships
- Know how to manage a bad day or situation
Our Peer wellbeing Ambassadors can help! Keep updated with their progress in school!
Transition Assembly with Compass Go!
Zowie, our Link worker from Compass GO. NEL Mental Health Support Team, came and delivered a virtual assembly, via Teams to all our pupils on their last day before moving to their new classes. The assembly was all about transitioning to a new class and how we may be feeling, giving us strategies to help if we are feeling a little worried or scared. Barley and Blossom class helped Zowie with giving their own tips for the other pupils! Thank you Zowie!
Transition Workshop by Zowie Compass GO. NEL Mental Health Support Team
Today Zowie from CompassGo came in a did a lovely session with the Year 6 pupils about transition with their next big step of secondary school incoming. Zowie showed them how to categorise their worries into those we can do something about now and problem solve, or for those future worries to let them go. We gave this a go and wrote down a worry for secondary school that we then scribbled out, ripped up and threw in the bin to show letting go. We also focussed on looking at our support network and talked to our classmates about our star qualities.
A really helpful session that was thoroughly enjoyed by year 6- Thank you Zowie!
Our Teeth and Gums
This week in year 6 we have been learning and understanding how best to look after our teeth and gums and how food and drink can affect our teeth. In this lesson we learnt about the different types of teeth we have: incisors, molars, canines, premolars and wisdom teeth. We then had a think about how much sugar is in some of the drinks we drink day to day, some of the children were shocked! But we understood that the occasional treat is perfectly fine as long as we take the right precautions in looking after our teeth 🦷
Mental Health and Well-being Assemby
It was great to hear from some of our Year 6 pupils in assembly this morning sharing their ideas on different ways to relax and strategies we could use to help with our mental health and well-being. It has been #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek this week, where we have been proud to support!
Our Mental Health and Well-being information board in school showcases our focus, strategies, agencies that can support and who can help us. Mrs Smith, Deputy Head and our Designated Mental Health Lead, is proud of the work the school does with regards to Wellbeing and mental health ‘ Pupils are able to openly discuss how they are feeling and the different ways they can help their wellbeing.’
Pumpkin Class Wellbeing Wednesday
Every Wednesday Pumpkin Class are enjoying some activities that they enjoy, that make them feel good and boost their sense of wellbeing. The activities are chosen by the children and there are different ones to do each week.
V- This week we wanted to do some yoga to help us exercise.
A- I love to colour and draw- it is so relaxing.
A- Playing games with a friend is good fun- we chat and laugh together.
F- I just love it when we can choose our own activities and do things together with friends.
Year 3 Wellbeing Wednesday
Each Wednesday we plan to take part in an activity to promote the wellbeing of the children.
This week we took part in game session. The children enjoyed getting really competitive with this!
The children were asked to provide a list of activities which they thought would be beneficial to them and this week the chosen activity was reading. The children loved relaxing with their friends and sharing a book.
