Mental Health & Wellbeing

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

(World Health Organisation, 2014)

A culture of care and wellbeing for all

At Warfield C.E. Primary School we are committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of our children and staff and our wider community to ensure that we have a community where everyone feels able to thrive, knowing that there is always someone there to listen and support. Positive mental wellbeing is essential if children and young people are to flourish and reach their full potential.

We recognise that, as a school, everyone experiences life challenges that can make us vulnerable and at times we all may be in need additional emotional support. We take the view that positive mental health is everybody’s business and that we all have a role to play.

Two key elements to support good mental health in both children, staff and parents are:

Feeling Good – experiencing positive emotions like happiness, contentment and enjoyment. Including feelings like curiosity, engagement and safety.
Working Well– how a person is able to function in the world, this includes positive relationships and social connections, as well as feeling in control of your life and having a sense of purpose.

Our aims at Warfield:

Our children will be able to manage times of change and stress, and be supported to reach their potential or access help when they need it.
Our children will be taught when to seek help, what help is available, and the likely outcome of seeking support so that they have the confidence and knowledge for themselves or others.
Our children will learn about what they can do to maintain positive mental health, what affects their mental health and how they can help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
As part of our targeted provision, we will have and continue to access, outside help and support for children when required.
Opportunities for good physical health and wellbeing as it is just as important as good mental health. Having the physical opportunities supports the mental stresses. PE, play and opportunities during after school clubs and sporting competitions support this.
We will promote opportunities for pupil leadership to shine. We plan opportunities for example our Play Leaders, who will help organise activities and games during play times to encourage higher levels of physical activity and promote inclusion.

By working together as a school community, our vision is to create a safe and nurturing environment where every child can flourish and reach their full potential, placing value on promoting positive physical, emotional and mental health through our PSHCE curriculum, and events such as World Mental Health Day and Mental Health Awareness Weeks.

School Mental Health Lead

A recommendation from the Government’s 2018 green paper 'Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision:’ was that every school and college would have a non-statutory designated lead for mental health by 2025. This role is now named Senior Mental Health Lead (SMHL). The Senior Mental Health Lead (SMHL) for Warfield CE Primary School is Miss Elaine Dick (Nursery Teacher) who is supported by Mrs Laura McCarthy (SENDCo), Miss Cathy Shephard (Deputy DSL and Inclusion Lead) and Mrs Emma Johnson (Family Support Advisor)

The SMHL role includes:

Creating a whole school approach to mental health.
Developing a Mental Health and Wellbeing group.
Developing the Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy in consultation with staff, Governors, Parents and Children.
Providing training and CPD. The designated lead will be a trained member of staff who is responsible for the school's approach to mental health.
Overseeing the help and support the school gives to children with mental health problems.
Helping staff to identify children who show signs of mental health problems.
Offering advice to staff about mental health.

Training

Staff receive regular training on safeguarding and issues relating to promoting children’s welfare and well-being and staff are fully conversant of their role and responsibility as outlined in the Department of Education’s publication: "Keeping Children Safe in Education".