Mental Health and Wellbeing
The mental health and emotional wellbeing of all members of Chaucer School (including students, parents/carers and staff) is fundamental.
We aim to:
- Ensure that through the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing, children and young people are helped to understand and express their feelings, build their confidence and emotional resilience and therefore their capacity to learn.
- Increase the awareness and understanding and reduce stigma amongst students, parents/carers and staff of issues involving mental health and emotional wellbeing of young people.
- Provide support at an early stage to any student who is, or appears to be, suffering from mental health issues.
Promoting Positive Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing
The culture at Chaucer School promotes students’ positive mental health and emotional wellbeing, and avoids stigma by:
- Having a whole-school approach to promoting positive well-being and emotional health within an ethos of high expectations and constant support.
- Having a committed staff community that sets a whole school culture of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing, support and value.
- Having a robust regime of continuing professional development (CPD) for staff.
- Having a student group of healthy minds champions.
- Working closely with students, parents and carers, in order to offer early help and intervention.
- Whole school promotion of building individual resilience and tenacity through the use of learner levels in all areas of the curriculum.
Supporting Students
Chaucer School offers a range of services to help students develop positive mental health and wellbeing and support those experiencing mental health issues. These are;
- The pastoral team lead and support positive mental health and emotional wellbeing across school.
- Form Tutors and Year Teams are well-placed to spot changes in behaviour that might indicate a problem, and offer support and guidance. Many things can cause a change in mental health including traumatic events (e.g. loss or separation, life changes, abuse, domestic violence or bullying).
- LIFE curriculum has the flexibility to focus on developing children’s resilience, confidence and ability to learn.
- Constructive links with outside support and specialist agencies (e.g. school nurse, Multi Agency Screening Team (MAST), Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to provide interventions for those with mental health problems.
- Positive Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing lunchtime ‘drop-in’, to access support.
Referrals
Any member of staff, student, parents/carers concerned about the mental health and emotional wellbeing of a student should speak to the student’s Year Leaders about their concerns. The Year Leaders will monitor and support them, and refer to outside agencies, if appropriate, for further intervention.
Unravel Updates
Unravel are a team of specialised emotional and behavioural psychologists and practitioners who provide bespoke support for children, young people, families and professionals.
Further Support
We work with colleagues from across Tapton School Academy Trust to ensure our students and staff have access to support and resources: