Mental Health and Wellbeing
The importance of good mental health in schools and colleges
Good mental health and wellbeing helps children and young people:
develop
attend school
engage in learning
fulfil their potential
Schools and colleges contribute to wellbeing by providing:
a safe, calm and supportive learning environment
early targeted support for pupils and learners who need help
Embedding an evidence-based, holistic, whole school or college approach helps achieve this. At Halebank we use Zones of Regulation to help all our pupils learn how to self regulate. There are interactive displays and helpful toolkits in every classroom and safe spaces around school. (https://zonesofregulation.com/how-it-works/)
Schools and colleges should identify and train a mental health lead. The mental health lead should be a member of staff empowered to develop and oversee their setting’s whole school or college approach.
At Halebank C E Primary School our trained Mental Health Lead is Mrs Warner and our trained Mental Health First Aider is Mrs Jackson.
All our staff are trained in how to support emotional wellbeing and are trauma informed.
Mental health support teams
Mental health support teams (MHSTs) provide additional capacity for early support and meeting the mental health needs of children and young people in primary, secondary and further education settings. They have 3 core functions:
deliver evidence-based interventions for mild to moderate mental health issues
help mental health leads develop and introduce a whole school or college approach
give timely advice to school and college staff, and liaise with external specialist services, to help children and young people get the right support and stay in education
MHSTs are a new workforce of educational mental health practitioners. They work alongside senior clinicians, therapists and other professionals. They integrate with existing mental health and wellbeing support in and around schools and colleges provided by:
counsellors
educational psychologists
school nurses
pastoral care
educational welfare officers
At Halebank C E Primary School our linked MHST practitioner is Tracey Connelly, our school nurse is Michelle Barrett and our school counsellor is Viv Kay.