Mental Health & Wellbeing

Senior Mental Health Lead: Kirsty Ovington

At Woodhouse Primary Academy, we believe that it is important to recognise that we all have mental health. Our mental health impacts upon the way we think, feel and act towards others.

Our mental health changes on a daily basis and also, over time, for example, within a day. Our mental health can be affected by a range of factors. It is crucial that we dedicate as much time and effort into maintaining our mental health, as we do to maintaining our physical health.

Our mental health / wellbeing affects how well we are able to cope with stress. It impacts on how we relate to others and influences the choices which we make. It also impacts upon our relationships with our family, friends, community and colleagues.

Clearly therefore, we want the children in our school to look after their mental health, as children with good mental health are able to develop their coping skills, which boosts their resilience, self-esteem and self-confidence. Good mental health allows children to understand their emotions, helps them to feel calm, and allows them to engage in tasks with a positive attitude. These factors, will all, in turn, improve academic attainment too!

How Do We Support Mental Health and Wellbeing at Woodhouse Primary Academy?

Schools are well-placed to promote the mental health and wellbeing of children, as most children and young people spend a significant amount of time within school and with their teachers. This means that in partnership with you, school staff are ideally placed to identify children who are struggling and who require some additional support.

Zones of Regulation

We have chosen to adapt the Zones of Regulation (a way of developing self-awareness around emotions and feelings, developed by the Occupational Therapist – Leah Kuypers) as a way of encouraging children to discuss their emotions and how they are feeling. The original Zones of Regulation uses 4 colour zones:

• blue (when you are feeling low levels of alertness – sadness, sick, tired or bored for example)
• green (when you are feeling calm and alert, happy and contented)
• yellow (when our emotional state is starting to elevate a bit – you might be feeling stressed, worried or excited)
• red (when we are experiencing intense and overwhelming feelings – you might be feeling angry, terrified or panicked).

Worry Monster

In our classrooms, we have Worry Monsters who eats children’s worries. Children are encouraged to write down their worries and feed them to the Worry Monster. Staff monitor worries which are placed into the Worry Monster and if needed, they can have a conversation with children around their worries.

ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant)

ELSAs are emotional literacy support assistants. They are teaching assistants who have had special training from educational psychologists to support the emotional development of children and young people in school. ELSAs have regular professional supervision from educational psychologists to help them in their work. ELSAs help children and young people learn to understand their emotions and respect the feelings of those around them. They provide the time and space for pupils to think about their personal circumstances and how they manage them.

Our PSHRE Curriculum Offer

Children at Woodhouse Primary Academy are also taught about the importance of good mental health and wellbeing via our PSHRE curriculum.

Senior Mental Health Lead

In 2021, the DfE dedicated funding towards training a member of staff in school to become a Senior Mental Health Lead to develop a whole-school approach towards mental health and wellbeing. Kirsty Ovington is the Senior Mental Health Lead at Woodhouse Primary Academy.

If you have immediate concerns around a child’s mental health and wellbeing, you should contact the CAMHS Crisis Team on (Freephone): 0800 0516 171. This line is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

External Support for Mental Health and Wellbeing

Understanding your Child – Online
This is an online course for all parents, grandparents and carers of children aged 0-19 years. It will help you to understand your child’s  development and feelings. Understanding feelings is vital as all behaviours start with feelings. It also considers different styles of parenting, and the importance of sleep and having fun together. It helps you reflect on how you and your child communicate with each other and how this can be key to moving forward when things are tough.For more information and to sign up for this go to www.durham.gov.uk/solihull

Being a Parent – Empowering Parents Empowering Communities (EPEC)
For parents of children aged 2-11 years old, delivered by parents. This group will help you understand your child’s behaviour and learn positive strategies to help you as a parent. These sessions are run byparent facilitators.

• Take time out for yourself
• Meet other parents
• Get practical support for day-to-day challenges of being a parent

Sessions run weekly for 9 weeks and last 2 hours each. For more information visit www.durham.gov.uk/EPEC

Incredible Years
For parents/carers of children aged 3-10 years. Incredible years will give you knowledge and skills to understand your child’s behaviour. You will learn how to build positive relationships with
your child and how to help them manage their behaviour in a positive way. Sessions include:

• How to play with your child
• Supporting your child’s self esteem
• How to praise and reward your child
• Understanding your child’s needs as they grow and learn

This course runs for two hours a week, over 10 weeks. For more information or to book a place, contact your local Family Hub.

Triple P FEARless
For parents/carers of children aged 6-14 years. This group helps where you have a child who has anxiety which might be causing them to miss school or social events. It helps you to understand
your child’s anxiety, recognise when your child is anxious and develop skills and techniques to help your child cope with their anxiety. Sessions run for 2 hours a week over 6 weeks. For more information or to book a place, contact your local Family Hub.

Understanding your child’s feelings – Online
This is a short taster course that will help you to understand more about your child and what they are feeling. If you like this you might like the bigger ‘Understanding your child’ or ‘Understanding your child with additional needs’ courses too. For more information and to sign up for this go to www.durham.gov.uk/solihull

Understanding the impact of the pandemic on your child / Understanding the impact of the pandemic on your teenager – Online
These short courses are about understanding how the coronavirus pandemic may have affected your child/teenager emotionally. You may have noticed that your child/teenager’s interests have changed since returning to school, or that your child/teenager is more anxious, or you might be worried about their social life. This course may help you to process the impact of the pandemic on your child/teenager. For more information and to sign up for this go to www.durham.gov.uk/solihul

Chill Kids
For children aged 7-11 years old. This course will help your child with big feelings find ways to manage their emotions and remain calmer. Sessions are delivered in a group. The course will cover:

• Helping children to identify different feelings and emotions
• Understand how their body feels when they experience emotions
• Strategies to remain calmer when they have big feelings

Sessions last one hour and run weekly for 6 weeks. For more information or to book a place, contact your local Family Hub