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Welcome to our latest Little Heath School Wellbeing newsletter, and the first of this academic year!
At this point, term is well under way, and we have been delighted to welcome all our students back to school. A special welcome to all of our new students – we hope you are settling in well and enjoying life. Read on for a reminder about avenues of support in school!
Our Wellbeing Newsletter is published three times a year, and we hope the information and advice in this issue is helpful.
We look forward to World Mental Health Day on Thursday 10 October.
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The theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day, designated by the Mental Health Foundation, is ‘ ‘It is Time to Prioritise Mental Health in the Workplace’.
The Mental Health Foundation says that “the theme highlights the importance of addressing mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, for the benefit of people, organisations, and communities”.
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The Foundation goes on to say “World Mental Health Day is about raising awareness of mental health and driving positive change for everyone’s mental health. It’s also a chance to talk about mental health, how we need to look after it, and how important it is to get help if you are struggling”.
At Little Heath School, we are marking the day by asking all members of our community to wear something yellow as an addition to their uniform or outfit that day. At lunchtime, we will host a wellbeing event where students can offer their thoughts about how young people can support their wellbeing. We will host a special assembly for all year groups on Thursday 10 October, and we will also, of course, be reminding students about their avenues of support, both inside and outside of school.
Further information about World Mental Health Day can be found at: World Mental Health Day 2024 | Mental Health Foundation
On this page, there are tips for talking about your mental health and advice on how to talk to someone about their mental health.
The website also has advice on how to get help - Get help | Mental Health Foundation
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The Mental Health Foundation offers the following advice for supporting mental health and wellbeing:
- Get closer to nature
- Learn to understand and manage your feelings
- Talk to someone
- Get more from your sleep
- Be Kind and help create a better world
- Eat healthily
- Keep moving
- Plan things to look forward to
- Be curious and open-minded about new experiences
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Talking is important and can be a huge source of support. We would always encourage students to talk to someone they trust if they are, at any time, feeling worried, anxious, unhappy or sad.
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When talking to others about their wellbeing and mental health, the Mental Health Foundation suggest:
- Finding a good space to talk without distractions
- Giving eye contact and full attention
- Listening and asking questions
- Asking how you can help
There is advice about how to prepare to talk to someone about their mental health and phrases to use and avoid. Please see Talking about mental health | Mental Health Foundation
The Young Minds website has a good deal of information to support parents/carers in talking to their children about mental health and wellbeing:
How to Talk to Your Child about Mental Health | YoungMinds
The website also has wider information to support parents/carers in looking after young people’s mental health:
Parents Mental Health Support | Advice for Your Child | YoungMinds
Mentally Healthy Schools have produced the following guide:
tips-for-having-a-conversation-with-a-child-about-mental-health.pdf (mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk)
Mind has the following support for parents in holding conversations with young people: Talking to an 11-18 year old about their mental health - Mind
The Children’s Society offers the following advice: GCR-2022-Well-being-Support Guide.pdf (childrenssociety.org.uk)
Young Minds and Mentally Healthy Schools have produced the following document, based on conversations they have had with young people, about helpful questions for parents to ask their child:
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Just as we look after our physical health, so it is important to look after our mental health. Self-care is about what we can do to look after ourselves, to keep ourselves feeling ok, or to help ourselves feel better.
Everyone’s approach to self-care is different, but it is important that young people, and all of us, explore and develop strategies that work for us. Self-care does not have to be a big event - but it is important that we all find time to practise self-care.
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Importantly, self-care is not a substitute for seeking professional support if needed.
There are so many ideas and suggestions for self-care that are available. Here are some common themes:
- Physical activities and exercise are important – they are a great way to relieve stress and help to centre or clear our mind.
- Relaxation techniques – practising breathing
- Time away from technology -leaving your phone behind, and time away from social media, can be of great benefit.
- Social activities – connecting with others, spending time with others brings with it many positive benefits to boost your wellbeing. Laughter really is good medicine!
- Music can be a great source of positivity. Listening to a favourite song, creating a playlist or listening to a happy song can all boost how someone is feeling. Music also helps to take your mind away – even for a short time – from worries.
- Gratitude – taking time to notice good things that have happened on the day and the blessings that we have, such as family and friends
- Self-kindness – taking time to do things you enjoy and taking time to recognise what you have achieved in the day.
- Organisation – setting achievable goals can give extra motivation and encouragement. Writing lists can help prevent stress.
- Routine – is helpful as a foundation for feeling good.
- Sharing concerns – either in person or via an online forum. It is important – and beneficial – to talk about any worries or concerns that you have.
The NHS has a series of videos available to support young people in looking after themselves and coping with worries: Self-care tips videos for young people - Every Mind Matters - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
The Anna Freud Centre has a booklet with top tips for young parents/carers - https://www.annafreud.org/resources/schools-and-colleges/advice-for-parents-and-carers-talking-mental-health-with-young-people-at-secondary-school/
Young Minds also has support for young people: Help With How I'm Feeling | Mental Health Advice | YoungMinds | YoungMinds
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The NHS and others have produced this tool to support people in taking care of their wellbeing:
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At Little Heath School we have created our own Little Heath School WELLBEING BAG.
The idea behind the Wellbeing Bag is to give students a few moments to focus on their wellbeing with the support of some games, some things to read and some things to colour. It is kept in the Student Wellbeing Office, so if any students would like to have a look at the Wellbeing Bag, they are welcome to visit us before or after school, or at break and lunchtimes.
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Tellmi is an award-winning early intervention mental health service. The service delivers fully moderated, evidence-based, anonymous, peer support to young people aged 11–25 years via an app.
The app allows young people to talk with others of a similar age and experience and provide each other with support, advice, empathy and a sense of belonging. When someone registers for the app, they are asked for a date of birth so that they are only shown posts from people of a similar age (2 years above and 2 years below).
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The app has been approved by the NHS and the NHS deems the app safe for people as young as 11. The app has been independently evaluated by the Evidence Based Practice Unit at University College London and is evidenced to improve mental health in young people.
Users can anonymously post about anything that is worrying them and receive supportive replies from other people of a similar age. All posts and replies are checked by one of Tellmi’s team of trained moderators before being published. Moderation takes an average of 19 minutes. Moderation hours are from 8.30am to 11pm, so if someone makes a post or reply outside those hours, it won’t be published until the service opens again.
High-risk posts are redirected to the in-house counselling team for immediate support.
Tellmi features a comprehensive support directory with over 600 resources and educational resources and users can access 24/7 crisis support in two clicks. Both the feed and directory can be filtered by topic, eg ‘exams’, ‘friends’, which makes it easy for young people to join relevant conversations and access appropriate support.
For information about Tellmi’s approach to safeguarding, please visit https://www.tellmi.help/safeguarding. For more information about Tellmi generally, and to download the app, please visit the Tellmi website: https://www.tellmi.help/
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There is information available for parents and carers to support the wellbeing of young people:
Parents Mental Health Support | Advice for Your Child | YoungMinds
Information for supporting your young person's mental health | Mind, the mental health charity - help for mental health problems
Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families - www.annafreud.org
MindEd for Families - www.mindedforfamilies.org.uk
Emotional Health Academy Young people, families and professionals can refer to the Emotional Health triage. You can find out more, and access the online referral form, at http://info.westberks.gov.uk/eha
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There is lots of support available for students in school.
Form tutors are the first point of contact for students. Students may also, of course, talk to their Head of Year and Progress Leader as well as the Deputy Head and Assistant Heads who lead their Key Stage team. Mr Linz, our Student Wellbeing Lead, is also available for students as are our Inclusion Team and our Safeguarding Team.
If students would prefer to make contact about wellbeing by email, we have a dedicated wellbeing email, smile@littleheath.org.uk which is monitored between 8am and 5pm on weekdays. Little Heath School website has a page dedicated to student wellbeing - Little Heath School - Student Wellbeing and there is a support form accessible from this page.
In our Tutor Wellbeing survey, students give an update about how they are feeling through their responses to several questions. These surveys are then analysed by tutors and by the Pastoral team, and any additional necessary interventions are then put in place. Since we began these surveys, it has proved a really worthwhile and helpful process. The next Tutor Wellbeing survey will be at the end of November.
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Time to Talk West Berkshire provides FREE confidential counselling services for young people in need, aged 11 to 25. If you need support and/or want to find out more, please email office@t2twb.org or call 01635 760331
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Young Minds: Their website is full of advice and information to give young people the tools to look after their mental health. They empower parents and professionals to be the best support they can be to the young people in their lives. And they give young people the space and confidence to get their voices heard
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Kooth: You can access support from other young people and professionals, all at your own pace
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No5: Reading's young person's counselling and mental health support service for anyone between the ages of 11-25. They have been delivering free, professional, confidential counselling, outreach and mental health support to young people who live, work or study in the 'RG' postcode area since 1971.
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Stonewall: Support for LGBTQ+
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Anna Freud: Self-care strategies for young people feeling low or anxious.
The Anna Freud Crisis Messenger text service is a free, confidential, 24/7 text message support service for anyone who is feeling overwhelmed or is struggling to cope. Their service is staffed by trained volunteers who will work with you to take your next steps towards feeling better.
If you need support, you can text AFC to 85258.
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The Children's Society: Full of age-specific advice on issues that may be worrying children and young people
Emotional health and wellbeing for Young People
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If you want to talk to someone about whether CAMHS is the right service to help, or if you are having extreme mental health difficulties and need support urgently, call the team on 0300 365 1234, 8.00am-8.00pm Monday to Friday. Outside of these hours, if you need urgent help, please contact the adult crisis team on 0300 365 0300
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NATIONAL HELPLINES
CHILDLINE
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0800 1111
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THE MIX
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0808 808 4994
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THE SAMARITANS
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116 123
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SHOUT
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The UK’s 24/7 text service for anyone in crisis, anytime, anywhere. It’s a place to go if you’re struggling to cope and you need immediate help.
TEXT SHOUT to 85258
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