Well Being

We are committed to promoting positive mental health and emotional well being to all pupils, their families and members of staff.

Our culture and curriculum demands that pupil voice is heard and through effective policy and procedures we ensure a safe and supportive environment for everyone – both directly and indirectly – to those who are affected by mental health issues.

 Happiness underpins our school vision and we firmly believe that this, along with quality first teaching and learning, is the bedrock that drives our success. Mental health is at the centre of our curriculum and we are committed to the importance of educating young people and adults about its importance. Our school code reflects this:

Key Responsiblities

This policy aims to ensure all staff take responsibility to promote the mental health of pupils and themselves, however, key members of staff have specific roles to play:

 PSHE and Well Being Lead

• SENCO
• Designated Safeguarding Lead
• Family Support Adviser

 In our school we have a designated Well Being Team who meet regularly to discuss various issues and strategies. The team consists of: 

• Headteacher
• Deputy Head and SENCO
• PSHE and Well Being Lead
• Family Support Adviser
• Therapist
• ELSA trained teaching assistant
• Link Governor

 This ensures that emotional well being and mental health are a school priority.

Involving Parent and Carers

We recognise the important role that parents and carers have in promoting and supporting the mental health and well being of their children, and in particular supporting children who do have mental health needs. Parent meetings include discussion on the importance of positive mental health for learning.

 In order to support parents, we will:

 Highlight sources of information (such as this policy) and support about common mental health issues on our school website.

• Ensure that all parents are aware of who they can talk to, and how to get the support they need if they have concerns about their own child or a friend of their child.
• Make our Mental Health and Emotional Well Being Policy easily accessible to parents.
• Share ideas about how parents can support positive mental health in their children though our regular review meetings.
• Keep parents informed about the mental health topics their children are learning about in PSHE and RSHE.

 We are also mindful that for a parent, hearing about their child’s issues can be upsetting and distressing. They may therefore respond in various ways which we should be prepared for and allow time for the parent to reflect and come to terms with the situation.