Newbottle Primary Academy

Mental Health and Wellbeing

At Newbottle Primary Academy, we are committed to supporting the wellbeing of our pupils, staff and parents. We have achieved our Sunderland Mental Health Charter Mark and are continuing to raise the profile of mental health in our school. We now have a Mental Health Support Team from the Sunderland Healthy Heads Team working with our own Wellness Team to support children and parents in our school. Below, we have outlined some ways we are currently supporting children and staff with their mental health in school. We have also attached some links to websites and resources parents may want to use at home.

'Time to Talk' Class Assemblies

'Time to Talk' class assemblies take place weekly and give children dedicated time to talk through their worries and teach children strategies to help them to self-regulate. Each half term focuses on a particular theme.

Wellbeing Areas

Every classroom has a wellbeing area designed to promote positive mental health and to support children to discuss how they are feeling. We encourage children to share their worries. Each area also has a worry box or worry monster so children are able to voice any worries they may have. All wellbeing areas highlight to the children what they can do if they are worried and who they can talk to. The following poster is displayed in each area:

We decided it was key that children feel they are being supported and listened to. Thus, the Wellness Team came up with steps children can take if they aren't feeling supported with their worries in school. Staff can also identify if a child may need some extra support.

Wellness Team and Wellbeing Champions

Our Wellness Team is made up of staff members from around the different areas of the school. Miss Darby is Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead. The Wellness Team are looking at ways to support children, staff and parents to maintain positive mental health. They meet at least once every term and have regular discussions with other staff members to see how we can further support the wellbeing of our school community.

We also have a group of children (one child from each class) who are Wellbeing Champions and are responsible for looking out for others and reporting back issues to their class teacher. In Year 5 and 6, we have Heads Up Ambassadors (Lead Wellbeing Champions) and they support the other Wellbeing Champions with their role and have extra jobs within our school to support wellbeing. The Wellbeing Champions wear a high vis jacket on the yard so that other children can easily identify them. We also have 'Friendship Stops' on the school playground where children will go if they want help from one of the Wellbeing Champions. Our Wellbeing Champions also meet once every fortnight with Miss Darby.

Our Levels of Support

As a school, we provide universal support through our whole school ethos and wider curriculum. All children know they can voice any worries they have and that we value their opinions and concerns. Additional support is provided for children who may need extra help for a short period of time due to a change in circumstances or difficulty managing their emotions. These children may access support from our nurture groups. Targeted support will be arranged for children who need more in depth support. Outside agencies will be contacted if a child's needs are so complex that we cannot give them the support they require. 

Below are some links to different ways your child can self-regulate at home. 

Support For Parents