Wellbeing
Mental health is part of our overall health and well-being. As human beings we all experience a range of emotions in response to what happens in our lives. How we deal with these emotions depends on the circumstances and sometimes your child may need some help in dealing with something that is affecting them. At Christ’s School, your child’s wellbeing is of paramount importance. This area of the website will provide you with a range of resources as well as suggestions of where to get help within the school. There are also links to useful websites and organisations for further information and support.
Where to get support
Form tutors provide the all-important daily contact with students during their personal development sessions at the end of the school day and should therefore act as the first level of support. They monitor attendance, punctuality and behaviour and generally help to ensure that students are happy, safe and able to achieve. They also provide the first point of contact for parents.
Each year group has a dedicated Head of Year who monitors attendance, behaviour and academic progress . They work closely with both the tutor and their linked Pastoral Support Worker. They run regular collective worships providing necessary support, information and guidance.
Each Year group has a dedicated Pastoral Support worker who works closely with the Head of the Year on all matters relating to well-being. They are also deputy designated safeguarding leads in the school and support many individual students in their year groups either with regular internal meetings or liaising with relevant external agencies. They are all trained to a high level in a variety of safeguarding and mental health topics including Mental Health First aid and in self-harm and suicidal awareness
Our behaviour and pastoral mentor works with individuals and groups. He is trained in many mental health topics and meets a number of students individually or in working groups. Each group or individual session is tailored to ensure each set of sessions meets the needs of each student. He also works very closely with parents in Christ’s Partnership sessions to ensure strong relationships between school and home.
Our personal development programme supported by our Collective worship themes will cover many topics around mental health, well-being, relationships, physical health and many other topics including where students can receive the support they need.
An anonymous link that students can use to highlight any areas of concern they have at school
A dedicated email that goes straight to key members of the pastoral team who can meet with the student sand provide and individualised support package
Creating space for parents and carers, to work together to develop solutions. Christ’s Partnership is an initiative designed to strengthen links between home and school to enable students to overcome barriers in making progress. We will look to promote a growth mindset and develop resilience, which are known to be key skills in reaching your full potential in life.
We offer in-school support groups that are tailored to the needs of groups and individuals of students. These run throughout the year and include:
- Healthy Relationships
- Working Creatively with Conflict
- Resilience
- Self-Esteem and Anxiety
We currently have 36 Sixth-form students trained as Mental Health Ambassadors who are available to meet with younger students supporting them with weekly meetings.
Targeted support aims to ensure any student who requires further support beyond the school's internal provision receives a personalised approach tailored to their needs. Parents can request this type of support or will be informed about the various services recommended by our pastoral team.
School counsellor
Our School counsellor Maggie Libura works at Christ’s two days a week. Maggie works with students who are experiencing family difficulties, bereavement, or struggling with low self-esteem, anxiety and/or low mood. The counsellor typically works with students for 6-8 weeks. Referrals are made by the Pastoral support team with parental consent.
Emotional Health Service
The Emotional Health Service works closely with the school and currently provides 5 CBT groups over the academic year. They also offer individualised support where appropriate.
School Mentor Programmes
The school currently works with LVA and Tooled Up organisations that provide mentors to meet with students weekly. Support is individualised and can ensure an improvement in engagement with school attendance, behaviour or motivation. Each studnet will have their own personalised programme of support.
Mental Health Support Team
Our school has access to the MHST (Mental Health Support Teams). The MHST is a school based CAMHS offer for early intervention and prevention work to support positive mental health and wellbeing. The team works in partnership with local schools to offer a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing.
They work within both primary and secondary schools across the borough providing evidence-based interventions to support children and young people with mild to moderate mental health difficulties. They work closely with our Mental Health Lead to develop our whole school approach to mental health, providing consultations and sign-posting guidance.
If you feel concerned about your child’s mental health please contact [insert name of school’s Designated Mental Health Lead and contact details]
To learn more about what the MHST is, please visit their website.
In our school the MHST works directly with young people with mild to moderate anxiety or low mood. They can run targeted groups around subjects such as exam anxiety, improving low mood, emotional distress tolerance and emotional regulation. They also offer assemblies and workshops on mental health issues.
For parents, the MHST holds regular online parent webinars on a range of topics linked to young people’s emotional wellbeing.
If your child/young person would like to make a self-referral for their emotional needs to be discussed with their school in a consultation, please follow this link.
School Nurse
Our school nurse works with individual students every week and referrals are made through children's services or the school with parental consent