Mental Health and Wellbeing at St Wilfrid’s Catholic School

 

Ethos:

At St Wilfrid’s Catholic School we aim to provide positive mental wellbeing for our whole school community; children, staff, parents and carers. We strive for our school to be a comfortable, happy and healthy environment where children can learn skills to help them express their emotional state in a positive, effective way.

We recognise that good mental wellbeing is as important as physical wellbeing and that a child‘s overall wellbeing can affect their learning and achievement in school.

The Department for Education (DfE) recognises that ‘in order to help their children succeed; schools have a role to play in supporting them to be resilient and mentally healthy’.

We use our PSHE curriculum to support our children to develop an awareness of mental health and physical wellbeing.

 

What is mental wellbeing?

Mental health is an integral and essential component of health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) constitution states: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” An important implication of this definition is that mental health is more than just the absence of mental disorders or disabilities.

 

Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to their community.

 

Mental health is fundamental to our collective and individual ability as humans to think, emote, interact with each other, earn a living and enjoy life. On this basis, the promotion, protection and restoration of mental health can be regarded as a vital concern of individuals, communities and societies throughout the world.

World Health Organisation

                                                                            

At St Wilfrid’s Catholic School we aim to:

• Provide a safe and welcoming environment so that children, parent/carers and staff can develop a sense of belonging.
• Promote good mental health as something to be valued and nurtured
• See all forms of behaviour as a form of communication.
• Build resilience.
• Support children in realising their own potential.
• Provide an environment that supports the minimisation of the effects of stress and heightened anxiety.
• Give young people the tools to feel confident in themselves; express their emotions; make and maintain positive relationships and cope with times of stress.

 

Pastoral Team

Role	Name
Senior Mental Health Lead	Mrs C Lay
Chaplain	Mrs Franke
Year Leaders	Year 7	Mrs Johnson
	Year 8	Mr Sapwell
	Year 9	Miss Clements
	Year 10	Mrs Anderson
	Year 11	Mr Redmayne
	VI Form	Mr Ashleigh-Thomas
		Miss Jennings
Designated Safeguarding Leads	Mrs Rumbol
	Mrs C Lay
	Mr Ferry
	Mr Franke
	Mrs Robinson
	Mr Calver
Pastoral Support & Inclusion Leader	Mrs Keynes
Leader of Opportunities	Mr Calver, Miss Graham & Miss Hack

 

i-Rock Horsham District is a support and advice hub for young people aged 14 to 25 and living in West Sussex.

 

The West Sussex Single Point of Access (SPoA) is a dedicated service which provides a simplified single route to access specialist emotional wellbeing and mental health support.

Allows young people to text a school nurse for health advice via text 07480635424

 

 

Lots of support and advice around mental health for both young people and professionals.

Young Minds Parents Helpline

Contact information for parents to receive support for their children.

Lots of advice and support for young people and parents, particularly under the ‘Coronavirus Advice’ section.

Various mental health support for young people.

Mental health support and advice on self-care for young people and school staff.

Online support for young people struggling with self-harm (aged 14-19). Includes a free online 7 week course.

 

Online support for parents who are concerned about their child having suicidal feelings.

 

 

Thought-Full- Mental Health Support Teams in Schools (MHST)

Winston’s Wish - supporting children after the death of a parent or sibling

 

Samaritans- free 24/7 helpline. You can get in touch about anything that’s troubling you, no matter how large or small the issue feels.

 

Childline- free 24/7 phone line and online support. Lots of information for young people around all aspects of their lives