Mental Health

Support for parents/carers during the Coronavirus outbreak

Link to DfE document entitled: 

Guidance for parents/carers on supporting children and young people's mental health and well being during the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.

Resources for dealing with the effects of lockdown

Coping with anxiety

At some point in their lives all children will feel anxious or fearful of something. This is particularly relevant at the moment with the current Coronavirus outbreak and may also apply to adults. Within this section there is some information on anxiety and some activities that may help. 

Structure and Routine

When children are in school there is a great deal of structure and stability - at home this is not always the case and this can lead to negative behaviours, conflict and anxiety. Creating a visual timetable is a great way of creating the structure needed. Where possible, they should be created with the child allowing them to choose which activities they would like to do first - this will give them ownership over their day. Remember to include breaks and some exercise time and activities that they enjoy doing. It may be that you will need to create a new timetable each day to mix it up a bit. Some examples of timetable are included below for you to try but there are plenty available online which you can personalise for your child. Also included are some reward charts that may prove useful.

Tips for families

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a practice about living in the moment. The focus is brought to the thoughts and feelings you are experiencing. With children the goal of mindfulness is to help them move beyond thoughts that may be draining, negative or worrisome.

Below are some mindfulness coloring sheets for you to use at home and some brain break breathing activities.

Activities for home

Links to helpful websites

Empathy Day - 9th June

June 9th is Empathy Lab's Empathy Day. They have created a set of activities for families based around three themes - Read, Connect and Act - which focus on helping children and families to understand more about empathy and seeing through the eyes of others. The activities can be done in any order - you just need a pen or pencil and some paper. They activities can be accessed via the link below.

Children's Mental Health Week

This week (3rd - 9th February) is Children's Mental Health Week. Set up by children's mental health charity Place2Be, the week shines a spotlight on the importance of children and young people's mental health. This year's theme is Find Your Brave.

 

In school Mrs Carpenter, Mental Health Champion, introduced the concept to the children via a whole school assembly, discussing the concept that being brave can mean different things to different people -  simply putting their hand up in class can be a brave thing for some children to do. The children will then be having a discussion within their class about what brave means to them. 

Link to Place2Be website

Link to Children's Mental Health Week

Mental Health and Emotional Well-being Policy

Relaxation techniques

Tips to help children sleep