Each year, mental health charity Place2Be celebrates Children’s Mental Health Week, a UK-wide event which encourages people to reflect on the importance of mental wellbeing amongst young children. With a recent study revealing that child referrals for mental health care in England have increased by 39% in the last year, we must continue to promote open conversations about mental wellbeing and support our children through difficult times.
The theme for this year’s Mental Health Week is ‘Let’s Connect’ and is all about making meaningful connections with family, friends, and the community, to support our mental wellbeing. The Covid-19 pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns left many children feeling isolated and anxious, particularly those who experienced the loss of a family member. Without support, it can be easy for these feelings to grow stronger and start to impact a child’s education, which is why pastoral care plays such an important role in creating a supportive school environment.
We spoke to Lorna Rae-Shearing, Assistant Head and SENCo at Howbridge Church of England Junior School, and Belinda Alger, the school’s full-time Pastoral Lead and SMHL, as well as an accredited counsellor, about children’s mental health and how best to support those who are struggling.
We noticed a significant increase in the number of pupils coming to us with anxiety issues soon after the lockdown ended and children were able to return to school.
One of the most common signs we saw in children struggling with their mental health was a change in behaviour. While some children withdraw and become very introverted, others do the opposite and express themselves through challenging behaviours. This often leads to a dip in their learning progress, as they struggle to engage in lessons and are less inclined to get involved with their peers. Trauma Perceptive Practice (TPP) has played a key role in helping staff identify children who require support and is something that we would recommend to all schools. Provided by the Essex Local Authority, TPP is free and easily accessible. Nurturing strong relationships between staff and pupils is integral to successful TPP, as teachers who know their children well are more likely to notice subtle changes in behaviour. This enables staff to examine the situation in more detail and flag any concerns.
At Howbridge, pupils always know who their trusted adults are and who they feel most comfortable going to if they feel anxious. If a new pupil joins the school, for example, we ensure key adults familiarise themselves with these pupils so they know who they can talk to openly about their feelings in a safe and non-judgmental space.
Even with extensive training, early signs of anxiety and other mental health conditions can be difficult to detect in a busy school environment. This is why connecting with parents and creating a relationship where they feel they can share concerns with staff members is an important part of protecting a child’s mental wellbeing.
As with most emotions, stress and anxiety can often trickle down from parent to child. Emerging from the pandemic and entering a recession has placed added pressure on parents, and we often have parents coming to us about their own challenges as well as those of their children. In addition to pointing them in the best direction of support, we work closely with an NHS Mental Health Support Team (MHST) to support pupils and parents. One way is referring parents to support groups they run such as worry management and behaviour management.
Supporting children with anxiety and other mental health conditions is about being flexible and forgetting the ‘one-size-fits-all approach’. Each child is an individual, which is why it’s important to be an active listener and identify their problem before putting a long-term plan in place.
At Howbridge, we have an open-door policy where staff and pupils are encouraged to come to us with any concerns. This is why we make all staff aware that any concerns they have about a child can be shared with our Pastoral Lead and Senior Leadership Team. However, if it is a safeguarding concern we have formal procedures in place, which all staff are aware of, to support that child and ensure that they have access to the right support.
Knowing where to access the right support for anxiety and other mental health conditions can feel challenging at times and therefore it is important to regularly keep up to date with local support services. We often use the Essex Directory of Services and the Early Help panel at the local authority to aid this. The Essex Directory of Services is available for free online and contains detailed information about where to find local services for children and young people, including a dedicated section for mental health support.
Networking with people in similar roles, whether that be pastoral staff, mental health leads or SENCOs, is a great way to improve your school’s mental wellbeing offering, as other schools may support their pupils in a way that you feel would suit certain individuals in your own school. Last week, for example, we spoke with the pastoral manager at a local senior school who signposted a nearby therapeutic farm for vulnerable children. It is something we are now considering engaging with after visiting the farm setting ourselves.
Howbridge Junior School is linked with a Mental Health Support Team (MHST) which works closely with our pastoral staff and is currently offering pupils 1:1 support and running a self-esteem group co-facilitated by the school. As a school, we run self-esteem, anger management and resilience groups for our pupils.
Although events like Children’s Mental Health Week do a fantastic job of raising awareness and encouraging people to talk more freely about their feelings, mental health is something that should be discussed in school every day. Normalising mental health is integral to keeping children safe and the more we talk about it, the more likely we are to make a difference.
As a school, we ensure that the topic of mental health feeds into everything do, whether that be through classroom topics or mindfulness sessions. We have found that bringing children together and encouraging them to share their worries works wonders for reassuring them that they’re not alone.
In our Main Hall, we’ve created a wellbeing and mental health display board based on the NHS’s ‘Five Steps to Wellbeing’. At the bottom of the display, we’ve added little envelopes filled with comforting quotes themed around compassion and kindness, which children are encouraged to dip into if they’re feeling upset or anxious. Many of these quotes are about friendship and the importance of connecting with others, which often inspires the children to talk to each other about what they’ve read or ask a member of staff for advice.
Over the last few months, we’ve found that inspiring children to show kindness to others often helps them feel better about themselves. Belinda, our Pastoral Lead, has been working on a project with some of our children which she hopes will spread kindness and support across the local community. The school has made ‘Bags of Kindness’, small tokens containing a mixture of items designed to comfort someone who is struggling, such as a plaster for healing wounds and a teabag – because everything seems a little easier when you’ve got a cup of tea in hand!
The focus of this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week is particularly important to us, as we’ve found that widening our support network and creating a culture where children can talk freely about their mental health without being judged has really helped us support pupils and their families through difficult times.
JOHN 15:5
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Registered address: The Diocese of Chelmsford Vine Schools Trust, Diocesan Offices, 53, New Street, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1AT.
Creating a Culture of Healthy Mental Wellbeing