At St Wilfrid’s CE School, we know that our role is to ensure that children and staff are able to manage times of change and stress, and that they are supported to flourish, reach their potential or access help when they need it. We believe mental health to be of the same importance as physical health and recognise the need to support both our children and our staff with this. We also have a role to ensure that children learn about what they can do to maintain positive mental health, what affects their mental health, how they can help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues, and where they can go if they need help and support.
Over the course of their education, children spend over 7,800 hours at school. With such a huge amount of time spent in the classroom, schools provide an ideal environment for promoting good emotional wellbeing and identifying early behaviour changes and signs of mental distress. The social and emotional skills, knowledge and behaviours that young people learn in the classroom can help them to build resilience and set the pattern for how they will manage their mental health throughout their lives. Emotional wellbeing is a clear indicator of academic achievement, success and satisfaction in later life. Evidence shows that mental health and wellbeing programmes in schools, can lead to significant improvements in children’s mental health, and social and emotional skills. Wellbeing provision in schools can also lead to reductions in classroom misbehaviour and bullying.
If you have any questions or comments about how we support our school community with mental health and wellbeing then please contact Miss Gillian Maiden (SENDCo) or Mrs Jenna Melody (Health and Wellbeing Lead) via the school office on 0161 998 3663 or on the following email address: senco@thrive-stw.com
