Mental Health and Wellbeing

At Airedale Junior School, it is important to us that all members of our school community are healthy both physically and mentally. We recognise the responsibility we have for the physical development and the well-being of our children. We will exploit every opportunity through our curriculum to help the children develop the physical and mental strength to be successful and happy.

We are always looking for new ways to ensure that our stakeholders are equipped with the right skills to ensure they have positive mental wellbeing and also where they can seek support should they need it.

To view our mental health & wellbeing policy, click here.

NEW RESOURCES FOR PARENTS AND CHILDREN

Calm Down Cards - Ideas to help you calm down when you feel anxious - pick a card to follow

Look after your self booklet - ideas to help you be calm

Encouraging Empathy

Energy Drinks

Healthy Sleeping Habits

Looking after your ONLINE wellbeing

Manage device stress and anxiety

Managing exam stress

Managing stress

Self regulation

Share kindness online

Dealing with grief

Dangers of vaping

More ideas and advice

Family Newsletter

100 Days of Mindfulness Site - https://youtu.be/gC2XfN10N50

Wellbeing Award

"We have been successful in achieving the Wellbeing Award for Schools accreditation, something we are very proud of. The award recognises our commitment to promoting and protecting emotional wellbeing and mental health in our whole school community."

Principles behind the award

There are four key principles driving the ideas and recommendations behind the award:

Emotional wellbeing and mental health are a continuum. Related issues can range from positive attitudes and behaviour, through to experiences of emotional distress and mental disorder.

Schools already experience and manage emotional issues on a daily basis; the objective is to minimise the impact of such issues and maximise the effectiveness of any responses.

Emotional wellbeing covers a range of dimensions, such as resilience, character building, relationships and self-esteem, etc. Understanding both developmental and mental health awareness is critical.

Creating a positive school culture requires a whole school approach that is led from the top while involving all in the school community.

Our school already prides itself on ‘high quality personal development and welfare’ (Ofsted 2017). Embarking on the award process does not imply that our school is failing in this area, but rather that we are recognising the needs and demands for positive mental wellbeing in today’s society.

The whole-school community

One theme that is central to the award is the need for schools to draw the wider community and relevant stakeholders into the centre of the change process. Parents and carers are one such group. Evidence shows that, for parents, the emotional and mental health needs of their children is of increasing concern, and often parents look to the school to support and inform them. Pupils also need to be given the opportunity to express their own voice and this can be an influential source of good ideas for any school looking for innovative and appropriate solutions.

As another critical group of the whole school community, the award views the wellbeing of staff as significant as that for pupils. Equipping teachers and others with the know-how and skills needed to be better informed on issues surrounding mental health is essential.

There are five stages in the WAS process and the school will be supported throughout in order to evidence best practice and to achieve the award:

School self-evaluation
Preparation of an action plan
Implementation of actions and collecting evidence into a portfolio
Interim assessment and progress
Verification of achievement of the award

The award is expected to be achieved within a maximum of 12-15 months. Within this timescale, the process is supportive, developmental and progressive, rather than a box-ticking, target driven exercise.

What are the 8 Objectives?

The WAS has eight objectives which focus on areas of evaluation, development and celebration of the work of schools in promoting and protecting emotional wellbeing and positive mental health. Each of these areas is further broken down into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

Objective 1: The school is committed to promoting and protecting positive emotional wellbeing and mental health by achieving the Wellbeing Award for Schools.

Objective 2: The school has a clear vision and strategy for promoting and protecting emotional wellbeing and mental health, which is communicated to all involved with the school.

Objective 3: The school has a positive culture which regards the emotional wellbeing and mental health as the responsibility of all.

Objective 4: The school actively promotes staff emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Objective 5: The school prioritises professional learning and staff development on emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Objective 6: The school understands the different types of emotional and mental health needs across the whole-school community and has systems in place to respond appropriately.

Objective 7: The school actively seeks the ongoing participation of the whole-school community in its approach to emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Objective 8: The school works in partnerships with other schools, agencies and available specialist services to support emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Existing Services

As a school, we are proud of the initiatives we offer our pupils. We promote positive mental health and wellbeing for everyone with these initiatives:

Pupils are supported by class teachers, Key Stage Leaders and all other staff

Learning Mentors available daily for support

Wellbeing first aiders (Mrs Leanne Dann and Mrs Lisa Hooley)

Regular assemblies and celebrations to raise the awareness of mental health and wellbeing occur throughout the year

Purple Time (Independent learning time) to increase resilience

Extra-curricular clubs including a wide range of sports

Mental Health professional at Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

A wide range of outside agency involvement including school nurse,

Post box system for students to inform us of their feeling without speaking to us

Worry Monsters

Pupils who have a specific learning need or are having difficulties at home may access the following support:

Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator Mrs Julie Hall.

If you have any questions or queries about Mental Health, the best thing to do is talk about it. We have a strong team of people that can offer help including our Learning Mentors and our Mental Health First Aiders (Mrs Hooley and Mrs Dann).

Mental Health and Support Services

If you're experiencing mental health problems or need urgent support, there are lots of places other than school that you can refer to for help. Please see below for various links to differing helplines and websites.