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Mental Health and Wellbeing

Waingels Vision for Mental Health and Wellbeing:

The aim for mental health and well-being support in school is to provide an inclusive, supportive environment with impactful outcomes for young people. This comes from a well-planned strategic approach that identifies needs and provides appropriate, levelled interventions to meet these needs, alongside a clear program of education through personal development and PSHCE. The provision is well-resourced (Staff professional development, the physical environment and student resources), visible and accessible to ensure all stakeholders are aware of the support available to them and feel confident to access this when needed.

We have been working to expand the mental health and wellbeing support in school. Through this work we are excited to announce that we have secured our first kite mark accreditation for our commitment to Mental Health and Wellbeing. We are very proud of this COMMITTED award and now look forward to working towards ACHIEVING this academic year.

Wellbeing Policy

Coming soon

Contact

If you ever want to raise a concern about your child's mental health or have any questions, feel free to reach out to our Mental Health and Wellbeing Team: wellbeing@waingels.wokingham.sch.uk /fenmfn@waingels.wokingham.sch.uk

If you have any safeguarding concerns about a child please email cpadmin@waingels.wokingham.sch.uk

Self Help for Wellbeing

Like physical health there are many ways we can keep ourselves mentally well and to help support our wellbeing. These can include:

Good quality sleep, this means no distractions such as mobile phones/screens. Try and get around 8 hours of sleep, lack of sleep can impact our wellbeing
Eating well and drinking plenty of water
Participating in a hobby or activity we enjoy, such as being creative of playing a game
Connections with other people and talking
Getting physically active, such as walking or bike rides

In School Support

Waingels is very fortunate to have a Wellbeing Hub, located in the Canteen in Community Zone. Miss Fennemore (Mental Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinator), Mrs Jones (Young Person's Health Advisor), Mrs O’Grady (Attendance Officer) and Mrs Sewell (Strategic Mental Health Lead) all work from the Wellbeing Hub. Waingels Wellbeing Hub offers a range of in-house support to students offered on a case-by-case basis. Some of these are available to all students and others are accessed through referrals made by staff. This may include:

Right start & Positive end – drop in sessions before and after school if students are anxious about their day or would like to share any concerns they may have at the end of the day
Wellbeing Lunchtime sessions – Miss Fennemore runs two sessions per week for students in the Den. Mondays (creative well-being craft sessions) and Wednesday (relaxation sessions)
Drop in’s – students are welcome to drop into the Wellbeing Hub during break and lunch to collect information resources or ask a question to one of the team.
Targeted intervention course – Including emotional Literacy support, EBSA, Therapy dog, Wellbeing support. These are sessions agreed through the pastoral team.

External Support

MHWS We are very lucky to receive support from the Wokingham Mental Health Support Team at Waingels. You can view more information on the MHST using the link below or contact Miss Fennemore to discuss their support. Should you wish to proceed with a referral, please contact Miss Fennemore to complete this with you. Please contact her to book an appointment either in person or on the phone.

Mental Health Support Team (MHST) for children and young people (wokingham.gov.uk)

Waingels has a linked Community School Nurse who works with young people on a referral basis. She comes into school at break time once a fortnight for scheduled appointments but also offers a student drop in opportunity without a referral where students can ask her any questions they might have. If you do not wish for your child to access the drop-in service, please email healthadvisor@waingels.wokingham.sch.uk . If however, you feel your child may benefit from working with the school nurse on a one to one basis, please contact their Head of Year or the school Health Advisor, to discuss the primary concern in more detail and the referral process.

Waingels funds the provision of external ARC counsellors in school for 4 days a week. ARC provide confidential counselling for our young people. Please speak with your child’s Head of Year if you would like your child to receive counselling. Students can self-refer themselves using self-referral forms that can be found in The Den and in the Wellbeing Hub.

Communication

Social Media

The Wellbeing team post weekly updates every Wednesday, keep a look out for our #WaingelsWellbeingWednesdays posts. Our posts include, support for parents and students, mental health events and advice.

Instagram logo icon Instagram: @waingelspastoralteam

Sm 5b321ca7cfbef Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WaingelsOfficial/?locale=en_GB

X logo X: https://x.com/Waingels_

We will also be running focus weeks each term in school with different activities to share support and raise the profile of mental health and wellbeing. When we deliver assemblies to students, we will communicate the content of these home to parents via email.

Each half term there will be parent event taking place. These will cover a range of options from parent workshops & coffee mornings to surveys and forums. Where appropriate we will have support from external professionals available for parents at these events.

Resource Links for Mental Health & Wellbeing

Websites you may find useful:

	A Free app for 11-17 year olds to help manage their mental wellbeing. Moderated by trained counsellors, users can anonymously post about anything that is worrying them and receive supportive replies from other people of a similar age. www.tellmi.help/
	A specific service for 16-25 year olds who need additional and specific support or advice -https://arcweb.org.uk/youth-information-16-25/
	Mental Health Support Team Wokingham https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing-services/health-services-and-advice/health-and-wellbeing-children-and-young-people/mental-health-support-team-mhst-children-and-young-people/what-we-offer - information page
	The UK’s leading charity committed to improving emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people and empowering their parents and carers. www.youngminds.org.uk/
	A national mental health charity, which offers and excellent range of materials on all aspects of depression and it also lists details of local Mind Associations. www.mind.org.uk/
	They support children and adults who have been exposed to domestic abuse. You can also find support specific to Wokingham on their domestic abuse directory - /www.kaleidoscopic.uk/

Helplines:

You can contact Childline about anything. Whatever your worry, they are there to support you. There are lots of different ways to speak to a Childline counsellor or get support from other young people. You can email, and ChildLine will reply within 24 hours (https://www.childline.org.uk/get-support/contacting-childline/emailing-childline/). You can also call for free on 08001111.

Samaritans is a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom. You can call any time on 116123 or email jo@samaritans.org

Young minds offer emotional signposting and support through our Parents Helpline. Call them on 0808 802 5544 or their chat line - https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/parents-helpline/#Chattousonline

If you need further support, they can arrange a 50-minute telephone consultation with a mental health professional within seven days. Young Minds Helpline is open 9:30am - 4pm, Mon – Fri.