Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing

Well-being

Wellbeing is about our thoughts, feelings, emotions and ability to react to life. A good sense of wellbeing is feeling ok and able to cope, even when life or situations are challenging.

There are some simple ways to help yourself manage your own well-being day to day in the form of ‘five ways to well-being.’

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/guides-tools-and-activities/five-steps-to-mental-wellbeing/

This important message gives us permission to take time for ourselves and be in the moment and focusses on the positives.  This is similar to mindfulness.  If you can try to follow these 5 ways throughout your daily life, you will find it much easier to cope with stress. 

What 5 things can you do today to connect, give to others, take notice, keep learning and be active,

 

Children can also follow the 5 ways to well-being.  This will give them long lasting skills to grow with them through adulthood to hopefully reduce the risk of them developing mental health issues.

Sometimes our wellbeing is affected by things out of our control: illness, a stressful family situation or crisis.  When our wellbeing is affected and we don’t feel able to cope, this can lead to mental health concerns: sadness, depression and unhelpful thoughts that can stop us from enjoying and coping with daily life.

Mental health Illness

Sometimes, people are born with a mental health illness which affects them throughout their lives. They might have different ways of being supported and coping with their mental health illness; they might take a medicine or they might have a doctor or counsellor that they talk to, to help them cope and regain a sense of wellbeing.

Mental illness is often invisible, but that doesn’t mean it should be hidden. Statistics tell us that most people suffer from a mental health concern at some point in their lives and that one in ten young people struggle with their mental health. People with any illnesses, whether they affect our mental or physical health, deserve support, help and understanding.

Breaking the stigma

Understanding and responding to our mental health, and wellbeing needs, is something we believe in at Paganel Primary School. We aim to take away the stigma and negativity and help our pupils and families to talk openly.

In this section of our website, we hope to share our activities and learning in school, as well as helpful advice, websites and contacts.

We believe in promoting positive mental health and emotional wellbeing.

At Paganel Primary School, we believe in promoting positive mental health and emotional wellbeing to ensure that the school is a community where everyone feels able to thrive. Our school ethos and values underpin everything that we do.

Who has mental health?

We all have mental health – some people call this emotional health or wellbeing.

What is mental health?

The World Health Organisation defines mental health as a state of wellbeing in which every individual achieves their potential, copes with the normal stresses of life, works productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to their community. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel and act.

Good mental health and wellbeing is just as important as good physical health. Like physical health, mental health can range across a spectrum from healthy to unwell; it can fluctuate on a daily basis and change over time.

Most children grow up mentally healthy, but surveys suggest that more children and young people have problems with their mental health today than 30 years ago. It is thought that this is probably because of changes in the way that we live now and how that affects the experience of growing up.

What helps?

Things that can help keep children and young people mentally well include:

  • being in good physical health, eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise
  • having time and the freedom to play, indoors and outdoors
  • being part of a family that gets along well most of the time
  • going to a school that looks after the wellbeing of all its pupils
  • taking part in local activities for young people.

Other factors are also important, including:

  • feeling loved, trusted, understood, valued and safe
  • being interested in life and having opportunities to enjoy themselves
  • being hopeful and optimistic
  • being able to learn and having opportunities to succeed
  • accepting who they are and recognising what they are good at
  • having a sense of belonging in their family, school and community
  • feeling they have some control over their own life
  • having the strength to cope when something is wrong (resilience) and the ability to solve problems.

What happens in school?

In school, we teach children about what it means to have good mental health and wellbeing throughout our curriculum and daily practice.

Our PSHE curriculum focuses specifically on developing children’s social and emotional skills which can prevent poor mental health from developing and help all children cope effectively with setbacks and remain healthy. It is about helping children to understand and manage their thoughts, feelings and behaviour and build skills that help them to thrive, such as working in a team, persistence, and self-awareness.

At Paganel we promote positive mental health and wellbeing for every member of our school community.  This includes children, staff and people within our wider families. We have a supportive and caring ethos model of respect and kindness, where each individual is valued.

Our commitment includes ensuring that we actively nurture our children’s physical and mental health.  As a school we ensure our priority is to keep our children safe, and to provide the best possible environment in which every child is cared for and able to learn and grow. This ethos underpins all of our teaching and learning.

Although school staff are not qualified to diagnose mental health conditions, we work in collaboration with external agencies and can help support you in accessing the support needed.

If you are concerned about your child’s wellbeing, please contact your child’s class teacher in the first instance with your concerns.

 

Please click on the links below for resources

How can I support my child’s well being and mental health?

The links below are to websites that have activities and resources to help children’s well being and mental health.

https://www.youngminds.org.uk/

Young minds strap line is “fighting for children’s mental health”

https://www.place2be.org.uk/

https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/information

https://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/

Where can I get support if my child is in crisis:

 Shout – is a 24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, 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 85258 for immediate help

  • Samaritans – works to make sure there’s always someone there for anyone who needs someone. You can access confidential, emotional support at any time by calling 116 123
  • HOPELINE – is a confidential support and advice service for children and young people under the age of 35 who are experiencing thoughts of suicide. Or for anyone concerned that a young person could be thinking about suicide

Call 0800 068 4141 any day 9am – 12am (midnight)

  • Childline – is a free, private and confidential service that you can access online and on the phone. They can provide help and support for people up to their 19th

Call 0800 1111

Hello from the Pause Team!

We provide a space for children and young people to talk about their feelings and get support around their emotional health and wellbeing.

We are open for drop-in – this is when children, young people and their families can have a face-to-face session with a practitioner without having to wait for a booked session – no referral required and no waiting list.

1.What does Pause do?

We are an open access, youth led, brief intervention, emotional health and wellbeing service for:

·      Children & young people under 25 years old who have a Birmingham GP,

·      Parents/carers of children & young people under 25 years old who have a Birmingham GP.

What does that mean?

Open access =  there is no threshold to meet to get support. If someone is under 25 and is registered with a Birmingham GP, they can use Pause.

Youth led = means 2 things:

1.     It is up to the child/young person to choose to engage.

·   We don’t accept referrals – children and families register themselves.

·   For anyone under 13 years old, a parent/carer needs to register with their child.

·   For those 14 and over, they can register without a parent/carer.

·   Parents/carers can also register for support helping their child/young person.

2.     The child/young person can talk about whatever is on their mind, nothing is off limits!

If it is impacting their emotions and feelings, we are here to help.

Brief Intervention = sessions last 20-30 minutes. There is no commitment from the young person, they choose when and if they come back to us.

We don’t case manage or offer ‘counselling’. Our team is made up of experienced wellbeing practitioners & wellbeing volunteers who will take the time to listen and provide support strategies. Young people will likely see a different practitioner each time they drop-in. We can signpost onto counselling services if that’s what the young person wants.

Emotional Health and Wellbeing = Anything relating to feelings and how to manage them. E.g. arguments with friends or family, anxiety or worries, loneliness, low mood, self-harm, relationships, transitions between stages in education like starting a new school/college/uni, how to cope with anger, bullying, gender, identity – all of this and more.

2. How to find out where drop-in is this week

To find out where drop-in is this week visit:  https://forwardthinkingbirmingham.nhs.uk/pause 

Or you can call our registration line 0207 841 4470 and leave a message (please note local call charges do apply). Our friendly team will call you back and get you registered.

Sometimes we might have to change drop-in times last minute – please check our website to see if we are open before making the journey down!

If drop-in does not work for you and you’d prefer a phone or video session, you can request this on our website using the online form. Please be aware booked sessions may have a wait time of over 1 month and drop-in is the quickest way to access support. 

Our service operates:

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Fridays – 10-6pm,

Tuesdays 12-8 and Saturdays 10-5,

We are closed Sundays & Bank Holidays.

Please check the website before coming to a drop-in session as in exceptional circumstances we may have to change drop-in times at the last minute.