Supporting Your Child
Our school Mental Health lead is Chris Thomas-Unsworth.
Somerdale Educate Together Primary Academy is committed to supporting the emotional health and wellbeing of every child. We believe that the school can help pupils build resilience and improve their mental health.
Our Learn Together curriculum, in particular, our Moral and Spiritual strand focuses on supporting children both physically and emotionally to promote positive mental health and we provide a range of opportunities for children to actively support this.
As a school, we actively encourage the children to express and talk about their feelings including how we can look after our bodies both physically and mentally. The children have opportunities to talk with adults who they are comfortable with, in a safe, nurturing environment.
MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING: INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND CARERS OF PRIMARY AGED CHILDREN
We all have ups and downs in life but in childhood it can be particularly hard to cope with sad feelings and worries that arise when things are hard or scary. There may be times when your child is unhappy or struggling emotionally. You may notice that they seem low or worried or that their behaviour changes. We may notice that they seem withdrawn or upset at school.
If you are worried about your child’s mental health then you are not alone. Many parents and carers have similar worries and stresses. There is good support available from local and national organisations. The sooner you seek help the better for your child and you.
Local services available for children
The School – Please talk to us about your concerns, so that we can work together to help your child feel better. In the first instance please speak to your child’s class teacher by arranging a convenient time to meet them. They will then liaise with Joanna, our Mental Health Lead for further advise and support.
Your GP – A GP can check any physical symptoms linked to your child’s health and talk with you about their emotional well-being making a referral to a specialist service if necessary.
The School Nurse – Parents/carers can contact the Bath and North East Somerset School Nurse Service for advice and support on a range of health issues.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) – A free NHS service that assesses and treats 0-18-year olds with emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties.
Off the Record – Counselling service for young people
Websites that offer information and advice
The following organisations provide reliable information and advice to help parent/carers to support their child when experiencing emotional difficulties:-
Young Minds – Help for Parents – Information about all aspects of child mental health, including a Parent Helpline 0800 802 5544
Childline – Lots of information and tips for children of all ages about feelings and difficult situations
Minded for Families – Free learning resource about mental health for parents and carers
Happy Maps – Lots of information about health topics including mental health, organised under different age groups including pre-school and primary age
Every Mind Matters– NHS endorsed tips and advice to help children and young people and equip parents with knowledge to support them
Looking after your own mental health
Your own mental health and wellbeing is critical to your ability to support your child/children. Being a parent or carer can be difficult, especially if you are facing personal or financial challenges. It can help to talk to someone, such as a friend, family member or your GP, if you feel comfortable doing this. The following organisations can also offer information and advice to help:
The Wellbeing College – Directory and database of groups, activities and courses in the community that can support adult wellbeing.
Talking Therapies– Accessed through G.P or self-referral.
MyScript- Social prescribing service – Available to anyone registered with a GP in B&NES. This service provides support in finding specialist services and community groups to help individuals experiencing mental health and wellbeing issues to take control of their situation.
Bath Mind – Tel: 01225 316199
Samaritans – Tel: free 116 123
NHS Choices Moodzone– Helps manage stress, anxiety, depression.
CALM Campaign against living miserably
Agencies and services to support parents and carers in vulnerable situations
1 Big Database – links to a wide range of useful information for families including Ofsted registered childcare, parenting support, groups, clubs and events.
Rainbow Resource– Signposts to organisations, services, support, activities and groups for children and young people aged 0-25 with additional needs.
Citizens Advice B&NES– Independent charity that provides free, impartial advice and information on a range of issues including housing, employment and debt.
The information on this page has been provided by B&NES Council Public Health Team
RE:SET is an online toolkit to support primary schools, secondary schools and alternative provisions to explore, adapt and reset their existing relationships education across the whole school. It supports settings to promote healthy, equal and respectful relationships and be recognised with a Healthy Relationships Champion Setting award.
There is evidence to show that a lack of time, know-how and resources stops educational settings implementing a whole setting approach to violence prevention. However, schools and alternative provisions already have systems, skills and knowledge that promote healthy relationships.
“At the start of doing these RE:SET workshops I thought: ‘my son is too young to be learning about relationships’, but I am so grateful you’re working in {our school}. Thank you – he needs this. I think he’ll be a better person because of it.” Father of Year 9 student, Rokeby School
Using RE:SET adaptions and changes can be made with minimal effort or resources, just the commitment of the school or setting staff. The online toolkit will guide staff through a series of steps that build on each other. As key tasks are completed, then are recorded on the dashboard, so progress can be easily monitored. All the project documents and evaluation are also stored and managed online to ensure easier and faster reporting and monitoring.
Tender believes that the best relationships education comes from the whole school working in partnership to champion healthy relationships and prevent gender-based violence, in line with Relationships Education becoming a statutory requirement for primary and secondary schools in 2020.
RE:SET settings are supported by a Tender Mentor, who has extensive knowledge and experience in devising and delivering relationships education using the creative arts. They will have a range of resources and session plans as well as engagement activities to share with the school. The Tender mentor and project delivery team will ensure a bespoke 12-month delivery plan is created once the audit and “Project Start” questionnaire for staff and students is done at the beginning of the programme. So, if existing work has been done this will contribute to the school’s progress to becoming a Healthy Relationships Champion School.
How does RE:SET work?
Relationships Education: School’s Equality Toolkit guides your school through the following five blocks which build on each other to reach everyone in the school:
Project delivery team
Tender has over 10 years of experience in developing a Whole School Approach to violence-prevention and we know that a keystone for success is demonstrable commitment from senior leaders. The journey begins with creating your school’s Project Delivery Team and leadership has to come from the top.
We also know that schools are time-poor, so RE:SET aims to make it as straight-forward as possible with timed tasks and the resources to achieve them. The tasks in this block will support you to create the team and infrastructure to deliver the effective management and impact of a whole school approach to healthy relationships education.
Involving setting staff
Your staff are not only a major asset, they play a vital role in the prevailing culture of your school, so RE:SET wants to reach ALL adults working across the school because staff confidence in promoting healthly relationships is so important to the success of this project.
The tasks and resources in this block support your school to increase existing staff awareness, confidence and skills in order to promote healthy relationships and prevent gender-based violence. You will also work collaboratively with your Tender mentor to identify specialist safeguarding training programmes to boost staff knowledge.
Working with children & young people
The aim of RE:SET is to support your pupils to learn safely, thrive as individuals and create future communities committed to respectful and equal relationships. The statutory guidance on Relationships Education outlines what is to be delivered and RE:SET will support your school on how to deliver the curriculum.
The tasks that you work through in this block will enhance the work you currently do with your students. You’ll create bespoke training designed in collaboration with your Tender mentor and receive additional lesson-plan ideas, delivery methods and resources. Through the induction and audit process you will also decide with you Tender Mentor if there are any workshops or activity days Tender can support you to deliver as we celebrate and increase awareness about healthy friendships.
Involving families & communities
Your families and local communities are a potential asset in supporting your school to prevent violence and promote equality. Their active engagement will enhance your school’s journey to becoming a champion of healthy relationships education.
Confidence in talking to families and communities is vital. The tasks in this block will support your school to consult with families and communities; including explaining why your school is addressing these issues, the strategies you’re using, the messages being promoted to your students, and how families can also talk about healthy relationships, equality and trust with their children and young people to support them at home.
Positive setting culture
The culmination of working through the tasks on each of the previous blocks in RE:SET will result in creating a positive culture throughout the whole school that promotes healthy relationships and reinforces your school’s commitment to violence-prevention. However, communicating what your school is doing from day one will set the tone of your intentions.
The tasks in this block will support you with the development of messages delivered through a variety of mediums, that can be disseminated throughout the school and local community and timetabled across the year.
Once completing all tasks in the five blocks the partner school will be awarded their Healthy Relationships Champion Setting badge to use on all online and offline communication and a plaque to display in the school. The Tender mentor will discuss what other opportunities there are for relationships education with Tender in the future as well as supporting planning for delivery by school staff. The Healthy Relationships Champion Setting status is valid for three years and after this time an audit will be completed to assess if refresher training or delivery needs to be done to maintain the schools champion status.”
Parent and Carer Resource Booklet KS1
Parent and Carer Resource Booklet KS2
As teachers, we are often asked for advise or resources for parents and carer’s, to ensure they can help keep children safe when using devices at home. Here are our top three picks for resources:
How to start a conversation with your children about online safety - NSPCC
