Skip to content ↓
St Edmund's Catholic Primary School and Nursery

St Edmund's Catholic Primary School and Nursery

Parish, Family, School

Mental Health & Well-being

             

At St. Edmund’s we aim to actively promote the mental and physical wellbeing of the children and adults in our school community. Our mission statement highlights that we encourage our children to develop their spiritual and academic potential and individual talents by recognising, valuing and celebrating the worth of every individual. As part of our school vision, we want children to be healthy in mind and body with a zest for life. 

Wellbeing Team
With that in mind, we have a dedicated team of staff – Mrs Bainbridge, Miss Meldon and Mrs Stringer - whose role it is to promote, monitor and support the wellbeing of all. As a school we believe in working together with families to support children’s emotional wellbeing and offer a range of interventions and resources to do so.

Through the curriculum, emotional wellbeing and resilience is embedded in a number of ways:

  • PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education)
  • RSE (Relationships and Sex Education)
  • Habits of Mind within the Thinking Curriculum 
  • Science: Healthy lifestyle – eating and exercise
  • Computing: Online Safety
  • PE: sportsmanship and resilience
  • Assemblies and class circle times
  • Enrichment days – such as Young Minds #HelloYellow

    

You have not allowed cookies and this content may contain cookies.

If you would like to view this content please

A Safe Space

There are a number of designated spaces around the school designed to create a safe space for children to explore their feelings and emotions. The Hub is a cosy, welcoming group room where children are invited to relax and work on their emotional wellbeing. We are also lucky enough to have our Therapy Bus which is a place for children to be listened to, shown empathy and supported – it’s also a fun place to be!

    

Alongside the curriculum, we run a variety of additional programmes and activities which we draw upon to support the children and staff within the school – including: The Zones of Regulation Programme, Rainbows Bereavement Support Programme and Emotional Literacy Support interventions such as nurture and friendship groups. We also have class and whole school worry boxes to encourage the children to talk about their feelings and ask for help when needed.

We recognise that transitions can be a difficult time for many children and with that in mind, we have a focus on children moving from Nursery/Home into Reception class, Reception to Year 1 and from Year2 to Year 3.  We also run a transition programme for the Year 6 children moving onto secondary school.  

As a school, we can provide access to a number of professional therapists (including art, movement and play therapists) who work with specific children and adults who are identified as needing additional support.

We are part of a project called Trailblazers run by Richmond Borough, which involves access to Mental Health Support Teams in schools.  They provide preventative support and deliver evidence-based psychological early interventions and create better links with wider services. The school has an EWP (Education Wellbeing Practitioner) whose role it is to work with specific parents to support their children with their emotional wellbeing.  Through this project and its staff training we are now an officially recognised Attachment Aware School.

Links to the different programmes we use in school and websites with helpful resources for families can be found below:

Following on from our Sleep Workshop for parents, you can find a few top tips and resources to support children's sleep hygiene on the Mental Health and Wellbeing section of the school website. You will also find more helpful links to websites and general resources that can help to support your child's (and your)mental health. 

Books for Parents/Carers:

  • Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams - Matthew Walker
  • What to Do When You Dread Your Bed: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Problems with Sleep - Dawn Huebner
  • Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems - Richard Ferber
  • The Awesome Power of Sleep - Nicola Morgan

Additional Books for parents:

  • Reflective Parenting: A Guide to Understanding What's Going on in Your Child's Mind - Alistair Cooper
  • Helping your Child with Fears and Worries 2nd Edition: A self-help guide for parents. - Cathy Creswell and Lucy Willetts
  • The Whole Brain child - Daniel Siegel
  • No Drama Discipline - Daniel Siegel
  • The Incredible Years - Carolyn Webster-Stratton
  •  The Reflective Workbook for Parents and Families of Transgender and Non-Binary Children: Your Transition as Your Child Transitions
  • Skills-based Caring for a Loved One with an Eating Disorder. The New Maudsley Method.' - J. Treasure, G.Smith, A.Crane
  • Beyond the rough rock: Supporting a child who has been bereaved through suicide (Winston’s Wish)
  • You just don’t understand: Supporting bereaved teenagers (Winston’s Wish)
  • The Reality Slap by Russ Harris
  • Brainstorm: The power and purpose of the Teenage Brain - Dan Siegel
  • The Book you wish your parents had read….. Philippa Perry
  • The Explosive Child - Ross Greene
  • Overcoming….. Series by Cathy Creswell
  • What every parent needs to know - Margot Sunderland

Emotions/Wellbeing books for primary-aged children: Emotional Regulation:

  •  Big Bright Feelings book series by Tom Percival (Ruby’s Worry, Perfectly Norman, Tilda Tries Again, Ravi’s Roar)
  • You’ve got dragons - Kathryn Cave & Nick Maland
  • Fergal is Fuming - Robert Starling
  • Beautiful Oops - Barney Saltzberg
  • Relax Kids: The Magic Box
  • What makes me do the things I do? - Molly Potter and Sarah Jennings
  • The Colour Monster - Anna Llenas
  • No Matter What - Debbie Gliori
  • In my Heart: A book of feelings - Jo Witek
  • Have you filled a bucket today? A guide to daily happiness for kids - Carol McCloud
  • Usborne: All About Feelings
  • Feelings: Inside my heart and inside my head

Separation Anxiety:

  • The Invisible String - Patrice Karst
  • The Kissing Hand - Audrey Penn
  • Come to school too, Blue Kangaroo - Emma Chichester Clark

Bereavement:

  • Badger’s Parting Gifts - Susan Varley
  •  The day the sea went out and never came back - Margot Sunderland
  • The Sea Saw - Tom Percival
  • Muddles, Puddles and Sunshine (Winston’s Wish)
  •  Michael Rosen’s Sad Book

Difficult events/transitions:

  • The Arrival - Shaun Tan
  • The Red Tree - Shaun Tan
  •  The Invisible - Tom Percival
  • The Day you Begin - Jacqueline Woodson Workbooks:

Workbooks

  • The Confidence Code for Girls - Katty Kay
  • Inside Out: a book about me!
  • Happy Confident Me! workbook
  • Don’t worry Be happy (anxiety workbook for children)
  • When my worries get too big (anxiety workbook for children) - Kari Dunn Baron
  • Starving the Anxiety Gremlin (age 5-9) - Kate Collins-Donelly
  • You’re a Star (self-esteem workbook for children)

Books for teenagers

  • It’s not OK to feel blue (and other lies) - Scarlett Curtis
  • Breathe Out: a creative guide to happiness for teen minds (Mind)
  • The Mental Health and Wellbeing Workout for Teens - Paula Nagel
  • The Midnight Library - Matt Haig
  • The Rest of Us Just Live Here - Patrick Ness
  • How it feels to Float - Helena Fox
  • Darius the great is not ok - Adib Khorram
  • Quiet girl in a noisy world - Debbie Tung
  • The Sad Ghost Club - Lize Meddings
  • The Space Between - Meg Grehan

Websites: 

APPs: 

  • Calm, Headspace, Sleepio, Pzizz

Resources to support mindfulness and relaxation:

  • Yoga Pretzels: 50 Fun Yoga Activities for Kids and Grownups (Yoga Cards) 
  • Mindful Kids (Mindful Tots)