children's mental health
The theme of Children’s Mental Health Week 2024 (5th - 11th February) was ‘My Voice Matters’. My Voice Matters is about empowering children and young people by providing them with the tools they need to express themselves.
You can find out more about this theme and get resources for parents/carers on the official CMHW site: https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/
There are specific resources that families can use on this page: https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/families/#resources
As a school, we observed Children's Mental Health Week this year in various ways:
- Claire and Aimee from the Mental Health Support Team that works each week in our school presented an assembly on mental health ahead of the event on Thursday 1st February. You can view the presentation below.
- Each class undertook an activity related to mental health during the week.
- We had a 'wear your scarf to school day' on Friday 9th February. SCARF, by Coram Life Education, is the scheme of work we use to fulfil the Relationships and Health Education curriculum in our school (see our curriculum pages) and much of the content we teach about mental health takes place in lessons of that subject. Wearing a scarf on the Friday was to symbolise our knowledge of the importance of good mental health and show that we are committed to observing Children's Mental Health Week.
Tuesday 10th October 2023 was World Mental Health Day. We observed this in assembly the previous day, with a presentation by Mr Ollenbuttel that you can find below:
WELLBEING AND MENTAL HEALTH AT CHRISTMAS
Christmas is a wonderful time of the year for most children but can also cause their mental health and wellbeing to be negatively affected due to the stress, anxiety and busyness that can come with the season. Here are some activities and suggestions for helping children to maintain/build good mental health and wellbeing this Christmas.
The theme of Mental Health Awareness Week 2022 (9th - 15th May) was 'Loneliness'. This week is promoted by the Mental Health Foundation and information can be found on their website: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week
Mr Ollenbuttel presented an assembly with this focus, sharing lots of ways in which to combat feelings of loneliness. You can find the presentation slides below.
The Essex Wellbeing Service
This is an early intervention service that supports everyone in Essex to live healthy and socially connected lives. With practical, emotional, health and wellbeing advice, support and signposting they help Essex residents to lead their best possible life and to find the right support at the right time, including support in the community for a range of health, wellbeing and day to day needs – supporting families to adapt to the 'new normal'. This can be accessed here: https://www.essexwellbeingservice.co.uk/
There are several other sources of information and resources below that parents may find helpful::
