Chilton Foliat C.E V.A Primary School takes the emotional health and wellbeing of every child seriously. We believe that the school can help pupils build resilience and support them to be mentally healthy. This can be achieved through mental health lessons and variety of mental health interventions. Such as: ELSA, Nurture Groups, Pastoral Support, and Mental Health First Aiders for Children.
We all have ups and downs in life but in childhood, it can be particularly hard to cope with sad feelings and worries that arise when things are hard or scary. There may be times when your child is unhappy or struggling emotionally. You may notice that they seem low or worried or that their behaviour changes. We may notice that they seem withdrawn or upset at school.
If you are worried about your child’s mental health, then you are not alone. Many parents and carers have similar worries and stresses. There is good support available from local and national organisations as well as school itself.
We also have support information for parents and staff as well if they need to reach out to share issues which may also be causing them distress.
The leaflet: Mental health problems in children and young people: guidance for parents and carers provides some useful tips for helping your child plus links to local and national services. https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/sites/default/files/siteimages/PublicHealth/banes_parents_leaflet_interactive_-_final.pdf
Local services for children and young people
GP – They can check any physical symptoms linked to your child’s health and talk with you about their emotional well-being making a referral to a specialist service if necessary.
School Nurse – can provide advice and support on a range of health issues. Please contact our admin team and we will get in touch with you accordingly.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
A free NHS service that assesses and treats 0-18-year olds with emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties. Your GP will be able to refer you to this service.
Kooth
Children and young people aged 11 and over are also able to access support themselves from Kooth. This provides links to advice as well as online counselling.
www.onyourmind.org – A service run by Wiltshire in conjunction with Barnardo’s to support children’s mental health
https://www.childline.org.uk/ – information and tips for children of all ages about feelings and difficult situations
Shout – text 85258
Text messaging service for children needing to talk about issues such as bullying, relationships, anxiety etc.
Understanding anxiety – a guide from the Priory group to explain anxiety to children.
https://tra-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/entries/document/4821/RW_Children_-_booklist_interactive.pdf – a list of books for children to read with an adult about mental health.
Websites that offer information and advice for families
The following organisations provide reliable information and advice to help parent/carers to support their child when experiencing emotional difficulties:
Helping my child build concentration and resilience
Helping my child with anxiety and worry
https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/sites/default/files/siteimages/PublicHealth/banes_parents_leaflet_interactive_-_final.pdf supporting children and young people with mental health.
www.onyourmind.org.uk – Provide information and signposting young people and families to places that can help with coping with negative feelings.
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/ – Provides Information about all aspects of child mental health, including a Parent Helpline 0800 802 5544
https://www.annafreud.org/media/11452/tmh-parent-leaflet-final-web-updated-by-ed-april-2020.pdf – a leaflet to support a conversation about mental health with children and young adults.
Self-Care – Top Tips for Young Parents and Carers
Advice for taking care of your own and your child’s wellbeing.
Minded for Families
Free learning resource about mental health for parents and carers
Happy Maps
Information about health topics including mental health, organised under different age groups i.e., under 5’s primary age, secondary age, young adults.
Charlie Waller Trust
Leaflets on a range of topics to support your family’s mental health.
Cafcass and link to co-parenting hub
5 steps to mental wellbeing
Mind – Mental Health charity which can provide support and resources to for mental health.
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/professional-practice/anxiety-parental
https://harmless.nhs.uk/ – information to support children who are self-harming.
Keeping children and young people safe online
Snapchat and social media letter to parents
Social media advice for parents and guardians
Gingerbread www.gingerbread.org.uk Gingerbread and One Parent Families have now merged to provide better support and a bigger voice to 1.8 million lone parents and their children throughout England and Wales.
NHS 111 http://www.nhs.uk/111 National Health Service advice and guidance on health matters
Princess Royal Trust for Carers http://www.carers.org Here to improve carers’ lives by fighting for equality and recognition for carers.
Relate http://www.relate.org.uk UK’s largest provider of relationship counselling.
Samaritans http://www.samaritans.org Offers confidential, non-judgmental support to individuals
https://charliewaller.org/parents-and-carers/ a directory of resources that can be used by families to support mental health.
www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk or 0808 2000 247Domestic abuse services
Staff
Acas www.acas.org.uk Information on stress, and employer and employee rights, in the workplace
Alcoholics Anonymous www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk Fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other to recover from alcoholism.
Carers UK www.carersuk.org The voice of carers
CBI www.cbi.org.uk Guidance to businesses on managing stress at work.
Department of Health www.gov.uk/government/organisation/department-of-health Information on dealing with stress and mental health problems, including the use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Dignity at Work Partnership www.dignityatwork.org Information and guidance on bullying in the workplace
The Equality and Human Rights Commission www.equalityhumanrights.com The commission is working to eliminate discrimination, reduce inequality, protect human rights and to build good relations, ensuring that everyone has a fair chance to participate in society.
HSE http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/standards/ Information on stress management standards
Local Government Employers www.local.gov.uk Guidance for all councils on stress prevention and management
Mindful Employer www.mindfulemployer.net Information and guidance on managing stress and mental health in the workplace.
Teacher Support Network http://teachersupport.info
Work Life Balance Centre http://www.worklifebalancecentre.org Exists to help people restore control over their workload and working lives we enable them to cut down overworking and so make new decisions about how they spend their time.
World Health Organisation http://www.who.int/occupational_health/publications/en/oehstress.pdf Publication on work Organisation and stress
General
https://www.annafreud.org/on-my-mind/youth-wellbeing/ – a directory of services in your local area
https://www.mindedforfamilies.org.uk/young-people – Resources provided to develop resilience for young people and advice to support mental health.
Mental wellbeing audio guides – from NHS Every Mind Matters
A free app for sleep, anxiety, and stress – from Insight timer