WELLBEING - Mental Health

MHST - Mental Health Support Teams are supporting our school with models of early intervention for mild to moderate mental health and emotional wellbeing issues, such as anxiety, behavioural difficulties or friendship issues, and provide help to parents/carers and children who need additional support.

MHST referrals are made by our Child Welfare Officer team with the consent of our parent/carers to provide support around low level behaviour and/or mental health needs.  Referrals are allocated a worker from the MHST and interventions usually run on a 6/8 week program.

MHST also provide whole class and parent workshops.

Workshops for children will include: Resilience and wellbeing, friendships, Low mood, Body confidence and self-esteem, General wellbeing hack and Transition support.

Parent Drop in with Chloe – Wednesday 8.40-9.15am

Chloe provides a weekly drop in sessions for any parents/carers who wish to talk about any mental health worries/concerns.

Play Therapy – Accredited Play Therapist – Kerrie Chandler 

Kerrie works with individuals and small groups to deliver weekly therapeutic play sessions.

What is Play Therapy? Play Therapy helps children understand muddled feelings and upsetting events that they haven't had the chance to sort out properly. Rather than having to explain what is troubling them, as adult therapy usually expects, children use play to communicate at their own level and at their own pace, without feeling interrogated or threatened.

How does Play Therapy help? Play is vital to every child's social, emotional, cognitive, physical, and creative and language development. It helps make learning concrete for all children and young people including those for whom verbal communication may be difficult.  Play Therapy helps children in a variety of ways. Children receive emotional support and can learn to understand more about their own feelings and thoughts. Sometimes they may re-enact or play out traumatic or difficult life experiences in order to make sense of their past and cope better with their future. Children may also learn to manage relationships and conflicts in more appropriate ways.

The outcomes of Play Therapy may be general e.g. a reduction in anxiety and raised self-esteem, or more specific such as a change in behaviour and improved relations with family and friends.