Bradfield Dungworth Primary School
Emotional Health and Wellbeing at Bradfield Dungworth
What does good mental health for children look like?
Being able to:
–Develop psychologically, emotionally, creatively, intellectually and spiritually
–Initiate develop and sustain mutually satisfying personal relationships
–Use and enjoy solitude
–Become aware of others and empathise with them
–Play and learn
–Develop a sense of right and wrong
–Resolve problems and setbacks and learn from them
Childhood and Adolescent Mental Health: understanding the lifetime impacts – Mental Health Foundation
How do we support pupils' mental health at Bradfield Dungworth?
- Talk about it - pupils rate their feelings using the Zones of Regulation throughout the day. Pupils attend assemblies, PSHE lessons and listen to visiting speakers.
- Create a safe space - where children when students feel a sense of belonging, have good peer and teacher relationships and feel listened to when they raise concerns
- Support for all - provide training for all staff in the school including teachers, teaching assistants, office staff and midday supervisors so everyone is confident in supporting pupils. Make sure staff wellbeing is a priority.
- Make sure teachers know how to help. They have an understanding of the risk and resilience factors for their students, how to spot the signs of mental ill-health, along with how to support and get help for students at risk.
-
Build a Community We work with parents and have staff as mentors for vulnerable students. We have trained peer mediators who are trained to resolve conflict in the playground. We provide a variety of extracurricular social activities for pupils which has been shown to help have a positive impact on students, by providing a space for them to work through their emotions and develop strategies to address their challenges.
You're Never Too Young to Talk about Mental Health
This leaflet provides simple advice and guidance to parents and carers about how to make conversations about their child's feelings part of everyday conversation.
It features an introduction from Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge who supported the "You're never too young to talk mental health campaign stating the campaign's resources "demonstrate how we can help children express their feelings, respond appropriately, and prevent small problems from snowballing into bigger ones."
Useful websites
Minded For Families
A free website with learning resources about mental health for children, young people and older adults - https://mindedforfamilies.org.uk/
Young Minds
A free website full of advice and support for parents and young people with specific mental health and life events which might be impacting on their well being -
https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/
Support for children following a bereavement
Child Bereavement UK supports families and educates professionals when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying, or when a child is facing bereavement -
https://childbereavementuk.org/
Winston's Wish - Winston's Wish is the UK's childhood bereavement charity. We support children and their families after the death of a parent or sibling -
Heads Together - Mentally Healthy Schools - Mentally Healthy Schools is a website to help primary school staff support the mental health of pupils - https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/about/
