Safeguarding our Mental Health and Wellbeing
St John's Church of England Primary School offers high quality, nurturing provision that focuses on developing the whole child.
When our mental health is good, we enjoy being around other people and we are able to take on challenges and new experiences. We recognise that for a child to achieve their full potential they need to develop strategies to practice looking after their physical, social and emotional wellbeing. This was recogised by OFSTED (2019) "...pupils’ personal development is at the heart of academic success" .
At our school we:
- develop children's emotional literacy
- help children recocognise and understand feelings and emotions
- develop children's emotional resilience
- support children to manage emotional setbacks
- encourage children to feel share concerns or worries
- support children to form and maintain friendships
- promote self-esteem and develop confidence
How we raise awareness of and promote mental health and wellbeing:
To support this:
- Mrs Hester is schools' Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead overseeing whole school policy and practice
- Mrs Nussbaum and Mrs Dar lead our School Council
- Miss Oren co-ordinates our Personal, Social, Health and Education (PSHE) curriculum.
- Children, families and our staff have access to Harrow School Councilling Partnership who provide a confidential space where thoughts and feelings can be freely shared and explored.
- Mrs Lacy and Mrs Whitfield have been trained by Harrow School Councilling Partership to offer a listening service which children can access at lunchtimes.
- As part of our Harrow School Councilling Partnership we have access to a weekly Playtherapist and a councillor who come in to support children weekly. The councillor is also accessible to family and staff
- All staff are trained to promote mental health and wellbeing such as 'Managing anxiety', 'recognising and supporting forms of attachment'.
- Mind Up is practised routinely in every classroom.
- Each class has a worry box which is another tool for children to use to express their concerns.
- We have class affirmations and recite these alongside our School Vision which both emphasise our values and beliefs.
- Tootoot (an online reporting platform) empowers children to share their concerns
- All classes access Forest School at least twice every half term.
- Access to specialist Music and French teaching
- Access to a range of clubs that promote wellbeing these include: Fit4Sport, Cooking club, Street Dance, Rock Steady, Orchestra, SingUp, Netball and many more
- Support through intervention which includes Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Lego Club, Young Carers and many more
Young Harrow Mental Health Support Services
Young Harrow have designed a Mental Health Hub page on their website: https://youngharrowfoundation.org/harrow-is-here
This page has been designed to help young people connect to the support they are looking for. Young Harrow knows that so many young people can struggle at times with feeling low, anxious and stressed. On their page, you will find a bunch of organisations that can provide the help and support you need.
Take a Look, take your time, and reach out to one of them when you are ready.
