Mental Health and Wellbeing

At St Andrew’s and St Mark’s CofE Junior School, we are committed to supporting the positive mental health and wellbeing of our whole school community (children, staff, parents and carers). We recognise that mental health and wellbeing is just as important to our lives as physical health.


We have a supportive and caring Christian ethos and our approach is respectful and kind; each individual and contribution is valued. At our school, we know that everyone experiences life challenges that can make us vulnerable and, at times, anyone may need additional emotional support.

Supporting Wellbeing in School

 

We are committed to supporting pupils' mental wellbeing throughout the year:

Whole school approaches:


Classroom approaches:

Individual pupil support:


Individual parent and carer support: 



PACE

If your child is struggling with anxiety or challenging behaviour at home, we recommend using the PACE strategy:


P: be playful with your child and focus on positive language e.g. ‘tell me 2 great things that happened today’; reduce stress around challenging topics by adding a layer of play such as drawing together, blowing bubbles, completing a crafty activity.

A: accept your child and their feelings by reminding them that they are safe and loved and thank them for sharing worries with you.

C: be curious about the emotions they may be experiencing e.g. ‘I wonder if you are feeling …. because I can see you are doing ….’; give them the vocabulary that they may not have yet.

E: be empathetic and remind them that all emotions are ok whilst reminding them about boundaries and acceptable behaviour e.g. ‘It’s ok to feel angry and I understand why you are feeling this way but hitting is not ok. What other strategies can we use when we’re feeling angry?



Calming strategies to try at home

At school, we often use mindful breathing as a strategy for dealing with anxiety or heightened emotions. Try finger breathing with your child at home!

We also encourage using the ‘grounding technique’ with children:


With all of these strategies, we recommend an adult doing the activities alongside the child until they are confident enough to do them alone. 




Further resources

Here are some further resources that could be used to support the mental wellbeing of you and your child. If you feel that you require any further support, please contact the school at office@sasm.rbksch.org