Banovallum SchoolMental Health And Wellbeing
It is not unusual for parents, carers or young people themselves to have worries about a pupil’s mental health and wellbeing.
There are a number of systems in school that mean a young person can have help or support. This can be at a time that they are experiencing specific difficulty or it can be ongoing.
Trusted Adults – All young people will develop relationships with adults in school that make them a trusted adult. This could be a tutor, teacher, House Leader or senior teacher. These are the adults that they can approach to share worries or seek advice. It is important that pupils know that no adults in school can offer to keep information or worries totally private. This is because adults have a responsibility to pass on information if a young person is at risk of harm or has been harmed.
The Student Support Team – This is the team of adults who are non-teachers and are based in the pastoral support office. These are Miss Gray, Mrs Morton, Mrs White and Mrs Harrison. They can be contacted by knocking at the office during a break or lunchtime. Alternatively, they can be contacted by epraise for those who may not wish to attend the office in person.
What if more help is needed?
It is important to note that school cannot make any direct referrals into NHS Mental Health services such as Healthy Minds or CAMHS. If you have concerns that this may be required then you should discuss this with your General Practitioner (GP).
The Healthy Minds website is a good place to start looking for additional information. School cannot refer to Healthy Minds but can potentially facilitate work with a practitioner if this is requested, following a GP referring your child to the service. If they send you back to school you may need to reassure them that you have considered this but would like to proceed with a referral via the GP.
For students who are 13 or above or parents of those aged over 13 there is also the option of contacting the Here4You Line. The Lincolnshire Here4You team can be contacted on 08002346342. This is available 24 hours a day.
If you are looking to make a self-referral or family-referral then more information can be found here.
Services Into Which the School can Make Referrals:
Needbright Solutions
School do have limited access to the services of Needbright Solutions who assist us in delivering some packages of work with young people. The current offer of focused work is as follows:
Cycle of Change - A theory based approach to assessing readiness to modify specific behaviours, setting targets, agreeing success criteria and timescales.
5 Point Scale - Sessions to explicitly teach the use of scaling as a communication and co regulation tool. Developing a personal scale and how this can be implemented in school as a strategy that provides good plan, do, review evidence.
Accurate identification of need - Exploring what a young person’s primary needs are, how these impact on them in school and signposting towards next steps/strategic approach.
Stopping the Pain - Self harm intervention. This is actually a long piece of work but in our experience it is usually impactful quite quickly with the lower tier of self harm.
Resilience programme This looks at evaluating and developing the young person’s skills in 5 key areas that are recognised as being required for resilience;
- Recognising their own and other people’s feelings and emotions.
- Courage.
- Planning ahead.
- Helpful thinking.
- The ability to ask for help.
Grief and Loss
School can make referrals to the Lincoln Grief and Loss Service for a young person who has experienced the loss of a close family member or who is struggling to process their grief. Depending on the outcome of the referral, school can facilitate online or face to face sessions with professionals.
We Are With You
The We Are With You service offers support for those who are struggling with alcohol, drugs or their mental health. Successful referrals usually lead to school facilitating work 1:1 with a professional online or on the school site. More information can be found out about the service here https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/services/lincolnshire-lincoln/You will also find details of how you can speak to someone about or refer your child directly.
If you feel that your child would benefit from a referral to join the waiting list for these services then you should contact the Student Support Team via [email protected] Please be aware that there may be a significant wait as these, like other services, can have be in very high demand.
Online/Text Based Service
Kooth
Kooth is an NHS service which is accessible to young people. It is a digital mental wellbeing community. www.kooth.com has information about the service. There are useful articles, discussion boards and opportunities to chat with mental health professionals. The service is web based and there is also an app which is supported at both the apple and android stores.
Crisis Services
Crisis services offer immediate help and advice to young people and their parents/carers.
They are:
Childline – Childline is a free, private and confidential service that you can access online and on the phone. They can provide help and support for people up to their 19th birthday. Visit the website here.
Samaritans – You can access confidential emotional support at any time from Samaritans either by calling 116 123 or emailing [email protected]. Visit the website here.
Shout – 24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. It’s a place to go if you’re struggling to cope and you need immediate help. Text 85258. Visit the website here.
CEOP – Report Abuse – CEOP help children stay safe online. If anybody acts inappropriately towards you or another child or young person online (such as sexual chat or being asked to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable); you can report it here. Visit the website here.
