Emotional Health & Wellbeing Resources

Swindon Healthy Schools has a Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Award for schools. This version was updated in September 2023 and includes the requirement for a Senior Mental Health Lead and an increased emphasis around pupils' voices. The award aims to reduce mental health stigma at a whole school level and at targeted level. It supports health and wellbeing of staff and pupils, provides relevant and appropriate training for staff to recognise the need and implement support strategies for young people. 

Exams

The Dorset Mental Health Support Team has put together a resource offering support around looking after yourself and top tips for successful revision, which can be shared with young people. 

Download the Ultimate Revision Guide
Download the 'how to stay resilient during exam season' guide

NHS advice for parents and carers: www.nhs.uk/mental-health/children-and-young-adults/advice-for-parents/help-your-child-beat-exam-stress/

Toolkits

Anna Freud's 5 Steps to Mental Health and Wellbeing is a free, evidence-based framework to help you develop a whole-school or college approach to mental health. The framework aligns with the eight principles outlined in the Department for Education and Public Health England’s whole-school approach guidance. 

Mental health Toolkit for Schools: Public Health England and Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families toolkit to support schools aims to raise awareness and measure subjective mental wellbeing of students. Schools can then use the data to identify mental wellbeing needs  and use appropriate strategies to support the students. Download the toolkit here.

Charlie Waller Memorial Trust School Mental Health Network: Following a successful bid to Health Education England (Health Education Innovation Fund) the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust is able to support schools in Wiltshire and Swindon with a programme of mental health training and support. The purpose of this project is the development for pastoral staff in identifying and supporting issues of mental health problems, providing support between appointments, using basic therapy skills. Learn more about the weekly online sessions here.

Young Minds is a national charity committed to improving the mental health and emotional well-being of all children and young people. Visit their website for further information and resources.

KS4 PSHE: Football, Prince William and Our Mental Health  This BBC series comprises six short films that focus on mental health. In each film a different person discusses how their mental health has been affected in different ways and how they look after their mental wellbeing.

Bullying

Anti-bullying Alliance provides a free primary and secondary resource pack, which can be accessed here. 

This report from the Education Endowment Foundation on 'Improving Behaviour in School' argues that bullying can be reduced through a number of approaches, such as:

  • Effective classroom management
  • Children and young people being influenced by their peer networks and motivated by social justice 
  • Positive teacher-pupil relationships, using Carol Dweck's research on "growth mindsets".

And that these levers can be more powerful than sanction-based approaches.

Stop, Speak, Support campaign: This campaign  is aimed at 11–18-year-old bystanders in online bullying situations, with a supporting campaign for parents. The campaign highlights three simple steps that bystanders can take if they witness bullying – Stop, Speak, Support. More details, including a school support pack can be downloaded.  Advice for parents, who would like to reinforce the code's messages, can be found on the NSPCC website                          

Promoting Positive Transition 

The presentation has been created by Swindon Education Psychologists, to support you and the young people of Swindon have a positive return to school after the Covid19 pandemic.

Body Confidence 

There are numerous programmes to support schools in delivering and promoting self-image and confidence for young people, but we have a free resource that schools can access direct from the Healthy school's website in the resources section, (under schemes of work). Be Real campaign have launched Body Confidence Campaign Toolkit for Secondary schools. The toolkit is designed with resources to use across 11-16year old age range. The toolkit is supported by a research paper 'Somebody like me' from the YMCA who surveyed 2,000 young people and 300 teachers.

Schools can be awarded with the Be Real Campaign, school badge for their support and commitment to the programme by downloading the kit from: http://www.berealcampaign.co.uk/schools and share their story.

Bereavement 

The following organisations can provide support to pupils around bereavement:

Rethink: 

The Childhood Bereavement Network (CBN) is a national, multi-professional federation of organisations and individuals working with bereaved children and young people. It involves and is actively supported by all the major bereavement care providers in the UK.  Mission: The Childhood Bereavement Network 'seeks to ensure that all children and young people in the UK, together with their families and other caregivers, including professional carers, can easily access a choice of high-quality local and national information, guidance and support to enable them to manage the impact of death on their lives.'

KS4 PSHE: Rob - Living with bereavement - BBC Class Clip.
Please note that the BBC state, 'This film is suitable for teaching 14-16 year olds, but because it addresses some challenging issues we strongly advise making yourself very familiar with the content before using it and considering carefully whether it will be appropriate and suitable for your specific cohort.'

Self-harm resources

Harmless provide resources to support people affected by self harm: https://harmless.org.uk/resource-hub/

Chameleon provide PSHE lesson plans on emotions, feelings and coping strategies (free for Swindon Schools): https://www.chameleonpde.com/users/sign_in

Anna Freud Resource: No Harm Done: No harm done: recognising and dealing with self-harm : Mentally Healthy Schools

University of Oxford (2018). Young People who self harm: a guide for school staff: https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care/nccmh/suicide-prevention/wave-1-resources/young-people-who-self-harm-a-guide-for-school-staff.pdf

Research Findings To Help Inform Your School’s Approach to Supporting LGBTQIA+ Pupils. Research summary

Suicide

The Papyrus Schools guide has been developed to support teachers and non-teaching staff to build a Suicide-Safer school or college. It aims to help you to complete the following checklist for a Suicide-Safer
school or college community. Download the guide here. 

Emotional Literacy

My Colour Palette: Exploring Feelings Wellbeing Activity: A free resource developed by Place 2 Be for Primary Schools: My Colour Palette: Exploring Feelings Wellbeing Activity from The Art Room (place2be.org.uk)

Eating Disorders

Simple Suggestions Series – How can schools support a child with ARFID. Download the PDF developed by NHS Bedfordshire & Luton and NHS North East and North Cumbria which includes 12 key tips for schools. 

JenUp teachers' toolkit on eating disorders

Jenup - How to support pupils who are struggling with anxiety and loss of appetite

Jenup - the side effects of excessive exercise

JenUp - the side effects of under-eating

Connected Belonging: A relational approach to school wellbeing strategy

Connected Belonging is an evidence-informed approach to enhancing wellbeing in schools informed by a six-year research programme at the University of Bath. The approach acknowledges the importance of different aspects of identity to children’s well-being, and how supporting connectedness and a sense of belonging to their various communities can enhance well-being.  This video outlines Connected Belonging. 

Further support and Resources

A directory of support and services available for pupils is available on the Swindon Borough Council Local Offer website.