Mrs Julia Morris
Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Lead
Mental Health and Emotional Well-being
At Ellington Primary School the mental health and emotional well-being of children, staff, families and the wider community is very important to us. We work closely with a variety of professionals who can provide guidance and support for mental health and well-being. We also have fantastic resources available to us through the 'Be You' programme. If you have any mental health and wellbeing concerns we are always available to support you.
As well as having a fully trained Senior Mental Health Lead in school, we also have a school Nurse, Ciara Drape, who attends every Ellington every other week. She supports a range of children and families, if you require her support, please just speak to your child's class teacher or contact the school directly.
Activity to practice self-care:
The Anna Freud Centre have produced some self-care plans for Primary aged children. If you would like to complete one at home with your child, there is a link at the bottom of this page.
News:
- Look out for the next round of recruitment to our wonderful peer mentor team.
- We will be running an information meeting for parents about our new 'Zones of Regulation' approach (date to be confirmed).
- A new series of practical, interactive and helpful parent and carer workshops are available. These are aimed at providing you with information and tools to boost your confidence in supporting your child with their mental health and emotional wellbeing. These will be held in Cramlington and start in September. Please see the flyer below to book your place.
Support for children:
Alongside the explicit teaching of mental health and wellbeing skills in school, there are a number of early interventions available to support the wellbeing of the children. These include staff trained in Early Years THRIVE and staff who are ELSA trained. There are also interventions such as 'Friend's Resilience', 'Lego Therapy' and 'Talking and Drawing'.
Useful websites/resources:
- Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families
- Be You Northumberland
- Every Mind Matters
- KOOTH- Free, safe and confidential support for young people.
- Mind
- Childline Information – This link will take you to a selection of games which will help children learn to cope with their feelings and also learn how to relax.
- Action for Children: Parent Talk. Action for children have produced a range of articles and advice for parents covering a range of topics such as mental health and wellbeing, sleep, relationships and behaviour. They also have a 1:1 chat function where parents can ask questions to a parenting coach.
- Barnardo's-Barnardo's website has a range of articles aimed at parents and carers around supporting young people's mental health. There is also a link that parents can use to find support in their area.
- BBC: Parent's Toolkit: Wellbeing tips and advice. The BBC have made a well being toolkit for parents. There are articles aimed at parents of children and teenagers as well as some tips for how parents may support their own wellbeing.
- Be You - Offer support in managing your own or your child's mental health and emotional wellbeing. Please see the flyer below for contact details or talk to us in school to access this service.
- Qwell- Free, safe and anonymous mental wellbeing support for adults across the UK.
- Talking Matters Northumberland - Talking Matters Northumberland offers free psychological treatment for people aged 16 and over who have a GP in Northumberland. They can offer one-to-one talking therapy for depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health related problems.
- Young Minds- Young minds have a parents helpline and webchat service to offer support to parents who have concerns about their child's mental health.