Canon Burrows Church of England Primary School
Mental Health and Wellbeing
At Canon Burrows CE Primary School, we are committed to supporting the mental and emotional wellbeing of our pupils and staff. Unfortunately, there seems to be an increase in pressures on our young children and how exposed many of them are to factors that may compromise their mental and emotional wellbeing as they develop. It is important that pupils learn that mental and emotional wellbeing is a normal part of life in the same way that physical health is and they know how and where to get help during times that they may need additional support.
We believe that positive mental health is everybody’s business and that we all have a role to play. Having a positive mental health is the ability to face life’s challenges with confidence, to manage them effectively, being responsive to the emotions of one’s self and others and to learn from these experiences. As part of our provision for effective mental and emotional health we aim to achieve the following:
Universal Support:
We aim to meet the needs of all our pupils through our Christian ethos and school values, our curriculum and our wider curriculum and through also implementing the Zones of Regulations. This aims to teach our pupils to identify emotions in themselves and others and provide them with bank of strategies to help regulate their emotions and improve their wellbeing.
The Zones of Regulation is a range of activities to help your child develop skills in the area of self-regulation. Self-regulation can go by many names, such as self-control, self-management and impulse control. It is defined as the best state of alertness of both the body and emotions for the specific situation. For example, when your child plays in a basketball game, it is beneficial to have a higher state of alertness. However, that same state would not be appropriate in the library.The Zones of Regulation is a curriculum based around the use of four colours to help children self-identify how they’re feeling and categorise it based on colour. The curriculum also helps children better understand their emotions, sensory needs and thinking patterns. The children learn different strategies to cope and manage their emotions based on which colour zone they’re in. Additionally, the Zones of Regulation helps children to recognise their own triggers, learn to read facial expressions, develop problem-solving skills, and become more attuned to how their actions affect other people.There is progression across the curriculum with children in Early Years learning to identify different emotions to children in Upper Key Stage 2 discussing how our behaviour can impact upon the feelings of those around us.
At Canon Burrows CE Primary School, we use My Happy Mind to help create a positive mental wellbeing culture in which children build resilience, self-esteem, and character. Grounded in positive psychology and neuroscience, myHappymind is a whole school approach that aims to develop resilient, confident, independent children and enables them to understand how to keep mentally healthy.
We have embedded the myHappymind programme across school to teach our children the science behind their thought and behaviour processes and give them the skills and knowledge to develop their self-regulation and successfully support their mental wellbeing.
My Happy Mind is taught across the whole school in weekly sessions, and consists of 5 units:
The programme helps children to:
- Feel happier
- Know what to do when they feel worried or stressed
- Improve their concentration
- Achieve more of the goals that they set for themselves
- Develop better relationships with friends and families
- Feel great about who they are and have positive self-esteem
To learn more about My Happy Mind, please watch the video accessed through the following link: https://myhappymind.lpages.co/myhappymind-parent-app-introduction/
The information you need to download the parent app so that you can start supporting with the strategies at home is on the parent letter at the bottom of this page.
Additional support:
We provide additional to pupils who have short term and long term wellbeing and emotional needs and those who may have been made vulnerable by life experiences such as bereavement. We also provide more targeted support for pupils who need more differentiated support and resources or specific targeted interventions such as wellbeing groups or personal mentors. This support can be provided by class teachers, our teaching assistants, our Learning Mentor or dedicated inclusion team.
We have staff trained to use various programmes and skills, including: Youth Mental Health First Aid, supporting children who have been affected by bereavement, Draw and Talk therapies and strategies, Zones of Regulation and My Big Book full of feelings.
We work closely with parents and carers to support their children with their mental health and wellbeing and are able to access a wide range of services to support with this, including but not limited to, Learning Support Advisors, specialist teachers or support services, therapists and Child and Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Furthermore, we have access to a specialist teacher, who supports with social, emotional and mental health and who is able to offer a wide range of interventions, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Digital Safeguarding:
At Canon Burrows CE, we believe that online safety (digital safeguarding) is an essential element of safeguarding children and adults in the digital world, when using technology such as computers, mobile phones or games consoles. Internet and information communication technologies are an important part of everyday life so children must be supported to be able to learn how to develop strategies to manage and respond to risk so they can be empowered to build resilience online. Bullying (including cyberbullying) has a negative and often lasting impact on mental wellbeing so we believe it is important that pupils learn how to recognise and display respectful behaviour online and the importance of keeping personal information private.
We also teach about the benefits of rationing time spent online, the risks of excessive time spent on electronic devices and why social media, some computer games and online gaming, for example, are age restricted. If pupils do have concerns, they can always use our online reporting tool to get support.
Anti-bullying:
We believe that everyone has the same rights of freedom from all forms of harassment. We start from the principle that bullying is absolutely unacceptable. Children are encouraged to treat others as they would wish to be treated themselves. We wish to assure victims of bullying that there a clear procedure at Canon Burrows that addresses issues immediately, whilst helping the bully to see the error of their ways. The strategy is positive rather than corrective; it seeks to raise awareness of issues involved in harassment, and is based on trust between staff and pupils. A copy of our school policy can be found in the policy section of our website.
Physical Education:
At Canon Burrows CE, we aim to provide high quality physical education and school sport to all pupils so as to develop their confidence and skills across a wide range of physical activities. Regular physical activity is so important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We strongly believe that a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. Physical activity is one of the key methods of mental relaxation that can help prevent and relieve the build-up of stress and anxiety. Through our physical education lessons, pupils are taught about the importance of building regular exercise into daily and weekly routines and how to achieve this; the risks associated with an inactive lifestyle and opportunities to connect with their peers through developing their personal and social skills. By offering a diverse range of physical activities our aim is to promote lifelong participation in sport so that students can benefit from all that it entails.
Extra curriculum activities:
Our extracurricular sport programme is an extension of our curriculum. It provides a platform for students to:
- Develop their skills and confidence further in selected activities
- Develop their social skills through working as part of a team
- Maintain an active healthy lifestyle
- Improve their physical and mental wellbeing through regular physical activity.
- Expand their horizons through new experiences.
Further guidance:
Please see the links below for further support.
Tameside Directory of services
This includes information on local and national groups and services both for children and adults, and some useful apps. Includes links for: mental health services; youth services and activities; services and groups for children with additional needs and their families; parenting support; housing and financial support and health services.
Young Minds:
Parents A to Z Guide gives advice on how to help your child with their feelings and behaviour, as well as mental health conditions and life events. They also show you where you can get help
Family Advice for getting help and support for mental health and wellbeing - see the attached leaflet below to see services you can access.
List of children’s books (see link below)
A useful list of children’s books on different aspects of happiness and wellbeing such as friendships, family stress, happiness, grief, anxiety and mindfulness.