Mental Health and Wellbeing

Mental Health and Wellbeing

At Holly Grove, we aim to promote positive mental health for every staff member and pupil. We pursue this aim using both universal, whole-school approaches and specialised, targeted approaches aimed at vulnerable children.

We will:

• Highlight sources of information and support about common mental health issues on our school website
• Ensure that all parents are aware of who to talk to, and how to go about this, if they have concerns about their own child or a friend of their child
• Make our mental health policy easily accessible to parents
• Share ideas about how parents can support positive mental health in their children
• Keep parents informed about the mental health topics their children are learning about in PSHE and share ideas for extending and exploring this learning at home (where appropriate taking into consideration their level of learning difficulties).

Please see below the list of everything we do as a school for children at Holly Grove School to support Mental Health & Well-being.

• Curriculum – PSHE- tailored towards developing independence, friendships, families, growth, differences, emotions etc.
• 10 Golden Rules – child centred
• Ethos – Together we learn, together we achieve
• Friendship week & children’s mental health week
• Celebrate diversity days for example – odd sock day
• Physical well-being e.g. PE lessons, MATP, outside gym, running track, sensory processing, rebound
• Nurture sessions – 1-1 sessions for children within their timetable
• Pupil voice across school (in our school improvement plan)
• School council & Eco council
• Treat days e.g. birthday parties, Halloween etc.
• Positive role models modelled to them by staff (friendship week staff)
• Rewards within class & from Head Teacher/Deputy Head, certificates & prizes
• Working for & visual timetables to help with anxieties and behaviours
• Barnardos – talk with the children
• Children’s version of the Safeguarding Policy
• Online Safety
• Mood monster boards/feelings boards
• PECS – all voices are heard
• Keyworker system
• GLD classroom – no segregation & mixed ability
• Music therapy & play therapy
• Invested in Burnley Youth Theatre, Little Voices – help build confidence
• Broader curriculum e.g. drama
• Circle time in class – opportunities to share/express how we feel, Play time – build friendships and socialise.
• Extended services = Holiday club, Merry Berries, Residential e.g.– Blackpool
• We promote to children it is okay to feel all different kinds of emotions
• Multi-Disciplinary Teams e.g.. Speech & Language, Physio therapists, Social Workers
• Newsletter & Assembly – Acknowledge achievements

Please see below the list of everything we do as a school for staff at Holly Grove School to support Mental Health & Well-being.

• Well-being acknowledgements = free tea and coffee, early finish the last Wednesday of every half term, golden ticket, staff nomination for staff member of the week.
• Facebook/Whatsapp groups for class teams
• Educational Support – free helpline with trained counsellors, promote access around school.
• Supervision – class teams and with senior leaders, Deputy has referrals 1-1 slips in the office. Staff feel supported and welcomed to always speak to Headteacher and other Senior Leads whenever they need too.
• Teachers have 1-1 supervision with their own staff
• SLT – offer 1 day a fortnight out of office for them to have time to focus and catch up on work.
• SLT look out for each other
• Listening Tree – Class supervisions for more complexed scenarios such as a pupils death – bereavement session.
• Paid for supervision for SLT
• Executive coaching
• Open door policy for all staff – sign post services where needed
• Treats in the staff room
• Staff roles and succession plans and progression routes
• Leave of absence for appointments/funerals/weddings
• Flexible working approach e.g. part time family
• Helpline numbers – back of the toilet doors
• Friendships week for staff – an act of kindness between staff

Please see below the list of everything we do as a school for parents at Holly Grove School to support Mental Health & Well-being.

• Family Forum – have speakers/professionals available to talk with parents
• Support network – parents together
• Nibble & Natter
• Shagufta works closely with identified parents who may need extra emotional support.
• Welfare meetings – designed to prevent any escalations
• Signposting – specific issues
• Sleep specialist (Nick Barrett) – Supports families
• Professional relationships with other professionals
• Help with rest bite for families – after school, holiday clubs, half term
• Referrals to social care
• Support with behaviours at home – offer advice, support and resources, work together.
• Parent workshops – lead by teachers/professionals
• New parents get an in-depth induction – home visit, transition meeting, a visit to school, continued support and welcomes questions
• Welcomed to charity night and other school events
• Different ways of communicating e.g. by text message, email, phone call – flexible to support parents
• Leading parent partnership award

Introduction to the Nurture Work at Holly Grove

Nurture is a priority at Holly Grove for emotional regulation and the pupils overall well-being. Nurture time is intended to develop and support children’s emotional well-being, feeling of safety, feeling of love and belonging, and form meaningful relationships.

The Nurture team is built of a team of staff in school with a wide range of backgrounds and skills. We work closely with pupils to help build confidence and a trusting and secure relationship. Our school motto is ‘Together we learn, Together we achieve’ will be at the forefront of everybody’s attitude towards supporting our children emotionally and being their secure and safe adult.

We encourage all children who attend Nurture to choose their favoured person in school to spend their nurture time with. Our aim is to make children feel happy in school and reach their potential educationally. We aim to remove any barriers to their learning. We aim to ensure all children feel valued and able to share their feelings in a safe and caring environment.

The Nurture Lead refers to the following in order to provide the right sessions for each individual child:

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• The Six Principles of Nurture:
• Children’s learning is understood developmentally
• Offers a safe base
• Development of self-esteem
• Language and communication is vital
• All behaviour is communication
• Importance of transition in children’s lives
• Consider the children’s needs and developmental stages
• Educational Health Care Plans

How do we implement Nurture across our school?

• Nurture sessions involve a regular weekly session with a favoured adult for 20 -30 minutes.
• The sessions can be individual or in Key Stage 2 in small groups. The sessions are fun, may include role play and puppets, games, art/crafts and stories or tailored to individual needs of the child.
• Children always have time to talk and share their thoughts and feelings and the responses are recorded where appropriate.
• Staff can refer to ‘My Top Tip Cards’ that are kept safe in the Nurture room, that provide staff with an overall breakdown of the child’s individual needs, activities to support them, likes and dislikes.
• The Nurture Lead, Head Teacher and our supporting Mental Health Practitioner, meet every half term to discuss our Nurture team and the impact of the Nurture sessions. We also hold regular Nurture meetings to update the Nurture team and provide supervision
• The Nurture Lead and Head Teacher meet on a half termly basis with the East Lancashire Primary Mental Health Practitioner who works with the Mental Health Support Team.

Impact of our work

Children are assessed using our Nurture Assessment tool in the Autumn term, Spring term and Summer term by the class teacher, their Nurture person and input from the Nurture Lead. The lower the score out of 120 reflects the better overall emotional well-being of the child.