mental health

Place2Be launched the first ever Children’s Mental Health Week in 2015 to support children and young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. Now in its fourth year, they hope to encourage more people than ever to get involved and spread the word. The theme for this year is #BeingOurselves

Some children and young people can find it difficult to think positively about themselves. Low self-esteem affects more than 8 in 10 of the pupils who have Place2Be one-to-one support. Place2Be is inviting everyone – children, young people and adults – to come together and celebrate the unique qualities and strengths in themselves and others. They have a range of resources for both Primary and Secondary schools that can be used throughout the week.

Mind Moose is another excellent resource that can be used within schools, it is a fun, digital platform that teaches children how to keep their minds healthy. Children go on a journey of discovery with Mind Moose and his friends as they learn how to look after their minds, keep their brains healthy, deal with emotions, develop resilience and flourish. The fun, interactive animations and activities are underpinned by theory and tools from the field of positive psychology and beyond. London schools can benefit from a 14 day trial as well as a 25% discount by e mailing inclusion@lgfl.net.

LGfL have a range of resources that can support you during this week. Audio Network has 60,000 audio files to be used within the classroom these can be used as a calming down tool, to uplift or to inspire. Audio files can be searched either by topic of theme.

Look, Think, Do contains a range of editable social stories that can be used within the class, with groups or individual students.Theseresources facilitate socialdevelopmentbyusingreducedlanguage,visualsupportandimages,structure andsmallsteps,apositivefocus,and,whenappropriate,choice. Thephoto-based,visualresourceisdividedintofourkeysections:LearningtoPlay;LearningtoSay;LearningtoChange and LearningtoHelpMyself.Editablestoryboardsbringdifficultsituationsto lifeinanon-threateningmannerandenablepupilstodiscusssolutionsandstrategies,and alternativeandidealendings.

Young Minds have recently launched their 360° which will support schools in taking a whole school approach and ensure your school achieves best practice in wellbeing and resilience. You can find out more here.

The Islington Mental Health and Resilience in schools (iMAHRS) also sets out the components of school practice and ethos that effectively develop resilience, promote positive mental health and support children at risk of, or experiencing, mental health problems. You can view the framework here.

Last week the Duchess of Cambridge launched the latest initiative from Heads Together to support children’s mental well-being. Mentally Healthy Schools brings together quality-assured information, advice and resources to help primary schools understand and promote children’s mental health and wellbeing. The site is currently in its pilot phase which will run during 2018 with selected schools. However it will be publicly available from spring 2018. If you would like to receive a notification when the site is launched, please email mhs@annafreud.org with your contact details.

If you are taking part in Children’s Mental Health week, we would love to hear from you on our twitter or Facebook pages #BeingOurselves.

10th October is World Mental Health day, the charity YoungMinds is calling on schools across the country to take part in #HelloYellow to show young people they’re not along with their mental health. Schools that register for #HelloYellow will receive a free pack, including a mental health assembly plan as well as a range of activities.

Mind Moose have produced an assembly that schools can use. It introduces mental health in the context of being as important to look after as physical health before discussing ways that we can all look after our mental health. It also discusses how children and adults in a school community can help each other to look after mental health.

Adolescent resilience – LGfL have teamed up with Public Health England toprovidelinkstosomeschool-readyresourcesfromarangeofdifferentorganisations.Theseincludeinformationonacademicresearch,materialsforwhole-schoolapproachesaswellaslessonseriesandone-offresources,plustargetedsupportfor specificproblems,andsignposting.Linksdonotimplyendorsementofoneapproachoveranother.Pleasenotethatnotallresourceshavebeenformallyevaluated,althoughmanyhavebeendevelopedwithschoolsandexpertsinthefield. This resources are suitable for KS3, KS4 and KS5.

Public Health England have a range of resources to support children in schools, they have a lesson plan and activities based around online stress and FOMO(Fear of missing out).

You can also download a range of calming music for use with either meditation, assemblies or in class from Audio network.

When I worry about things is another excellent resource from BBC Teach it is a collection of animated films that use personal testimony to explore mental health issues from the perspective of children. Alongside each, there is more information about the content of the film, and suggestions of how it could be used in the classroom. These resources are suitable for use with pupils aged 8-13.

Tell us what you are doing for mental health day on either our Twitter or Facebook pages.