The Mental Health Lead at Great Rollright CE Primary School is Michelle Hastings, the Headteacher.

The role of a designated Mental Health Lead is to:

• Oversee a whole-school approach to wellbeing
• Provide staff with the knowledge and confidence to understand and recognise signs of poor mental health in pupils and know where to go with any concerns
• Pversee the provision the school gives to pupils with mental health difficulties
• Manage how staff are supported with their own mental health
• Be proactive in developing links with specialist services, referring pupils if they need to.

Our vision is to support each child’s holistic wellbeing by:

• Raising awareness of mental health and emotional wellbeing as an open and positive topic
• Promoting positive physical and emotional development and the link between them.
• Recognising and addressing concerns as they arise.
• Supporting children and their families in implementing effective coping strategies.
• Supporting our children in developing the 5 Ways to Wellbeing

The 5 Ways to Wellbeing are:

1. Connect with other people.
2. Be physically active
3. Learn new skills.
4. Give to others.
5. Pay attention to the present moment (mindfulness)

Below are a few ideas of where to go for help if you want to discuss your child’s wellbeing:

• If you have concerns about the well-being of your child,  please speak initially  to your child’s class teacher or your doctor. At this school, we have a ‘talk time’ teaching assistant, as well as our SENDCo, Mrs Grundy.
• Should your child need more specialised support, you, your doctor or teacher can make referrals to the services on offer in Oxfordshire; these include the Mental Health Support Team (MHST) and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). You will find useful information on these services at https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/camhs/oxon/ Please be patient, this referral process can take some time. See further down this page for more information.
• Everyday Mindfulness techniques – we use mindful techniques from the ‘Space Makers’ programme. We also have specialist teacher, Lucy Franko who teaches Yoga across the school.  If you would like a calm moment, why not see if there are ideas to use at home on – https://www.youtube.com/@MiniMeYogaTV/featured
• Wellbeing activities for young people – a downloadable activity pack

It is more important than ever that we look for ways to improve and support our children’s mental wellbeing. As we find resources to support you with this at home, we will add them below for your reference.

These are lovely home learning packs from Barefoot Books:

• Managing Anxiety

• School avoidance

• Unique indoor games

• Yoga Pretzels

• Feeling Connected

Please click on the links below to booklets offering advice on a range of topics:

• Helping children and young people to manage anxiety

• Keeping ourselves strong

• Parenting a child with issues

• Parenting in a digital world

• Supporting children’s transition to secondary

• You’re never too young to talk mental health

• Supporting children who are worried

• Building your child’s confidence and resilience

Other resources include:

• Oxford Health team newsletter

• Footsteps Parents’ Guide – road safety training tips for parents

• Signposting to support services for young people in Oxfordshire

• Child Line

• https://mentalhealthinnovations.org/

You can text SHOUT to 85258

Shout is the UK’s first and only free, 24/7, confidential text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope.

Young Minds  Youngminds.org.uk  the – UK’s leading charity fighting for children and young people’s mental health.

Cruse Bereavement Support  https://www.cruse.org.uk/   Helpline: 0808 808 1677   Helping people through one of the most painful times in life – with bereavement support.

Oxfordshire Mind  https://www.oxfordshiremind.org.uk/     Oxfordshire Mind, in our local mental health charity. They have been campaigning for better mental health in Oxfordshire for over 50 years with their campaigning and support services. Like all local Minds, they are an independent charity that is proud to be affiliated with the national Mind association.

The ‘Early Help’ process 

We are able to offer ‘Early Help’ to any family whIch is finding life challenging for any reason. Please click on the links below for further details on this process or contact Miss Hastings to arrange an initial meeting.

• Early help guide for families

• Strengths and Needs form

MHST

The MHST provides a range of support services tailored to meet the diverse needs of our school community. This includes one-to-one emotional support for pupils, group sessions focusing on social skills, resilience, and managing emotions, and whole-class interventions that promote positive mental health strategies. The team also works in collaboration with teaching staff to ensure that mental health is embedded across the curriculum and school culture.

At Great Rollright, the MHST has is actively involved throughout the year. This year they have delivered one-to-one sessions with children to support their emotional needs, run individual workshops with parents, and held larger parent sessions focused on common challenges such as anxiety and emotional regulation. The MHST workers have also met regularly with teaching staff to offer tailored advice and practical strategies to support pupils in the classroom. Their presence has had a positive impact on our whole-school approach to mental well-being.

If you are interested in finding out more about the work the MHST do and the support they can offer for families, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Infomation from the Mental Health Support Team 

Who we are

Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) are a new NHS service offering mental health support to children, young people, and their families in education settings. In Oxfordshire we cover approx. 60% of schools. Each practitioner will be in their allocated school every week. The staff in the MHST are trained in delivering cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) which helps children and young people feel more resilient to cope with anxieties and low mood. Low-intensity CBT practitioners are equipped with evidence-based tools and interventions for supporting children and young people with certain mental health difficulties.

What we do

We work with new and developing mental health needs. This is about the impact the mental health difficulty is having on the young person’s life. For example, if it’s mild anxiety it might affect the person in one or more areas of their life (e.g. school), but not every day.

We offer support for the following:

• Generalised Anxiety
• Specific Phobia
• Separation Anxiety
• School Avoidance
• Social/Friendship worries
• Behavioural difficulties

We can offer

We work with parents of children from Reception – Year 5. We work 1:1 with the children in Year 6.

We would normally offer appointments in the school setting, such as 1:1 work, group work or parenting groups. Children and young people must be attending school for at least some of the week and be willing/able to attend sessions in at school. We are unable to work with children and young people who are at risk of harm from themselves or others and/or young people and their families who are receiving support from the child protection services. We can work with families receiving support from the Team around the family, family help teams or any other of the local children’s social services.

Referral Consultations

The Mental Health Support Team (MHST) offer consultations with school staff preferably prior to making a referral. This is to ensure that children, young people and their families are not sitting on waiting lists for a service that might not meet their needs, and/or alternative offers of support are explored.

Whole School Approaches

We work collaboratively with schools to support and develop the “Whole School Approach” (WSA) to promote positive mental health and wellbeing. Whole School Approaches can include: Assemblies on Good Mental Health, Staff Training, Themed talks for parents on common mental health problems, Psychoeducational workshops, and Themed Coffee Mornings.

CAMHS – Child and Adolescent Mental Heath Service