Aims

We don't wait until our children's teeth are falling out to educate them on how to look after their dental health, and, at Oak View, we believe we should be just as proactive with our school curriculum in order to learn about mental health and wellbeing from a young age. This is done in a well-sequenced and age-appropriate way.

Who has mental health?

We all have mental health – some people call this emotional health or wellbeing.

What is mental health?

The World Health Organisation defines mental health as a state of wellbeing in which every individual achieves their potential, copes with the normal stresses of life, works productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to their community. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel and act.

Good mental health and wellbeing is just as important as good physical health. Like physical health, mental health can range across a spectrum from healthy to unwell; it can fluctuate on a daily basis and change over time.

Most children grow up mentally healthy, but surveys suggest that more children and young people have problems with their mental health today than 30 years ago. It is thought that this is probably because of changes in the way that we live now and how that affects the experience of growing up.

The Mental Health Team

Our Provision

Our experienced and dedicated teachers have strong relationships with our children and are excellent role models. They know and understand the children well, creating a caring and nurturing family environment at school. ​​

Our mental health offer ranges from whole class provision, small group intervention and bespoke 1:1 support. Our pupils are taught self-care techniques, including recognising and managing emotions, exercise, relaxation and how to build relationships through a rich and varied curriculum. Our behaviour policy is build on a therapeutic approach and we foster an open culture when it comes to discussing mental health and wellbeing.

We have a huge range of mental health and wellbeing provision in school, including:

• ELSA - Emotional Literacy Support Assistant who works 1:1 or with small groups on short term focussed interventions
• Well Groups for Emotions, Anxiety and Self Esteem and Confidence
• Social skills and social stories groups
• Meet and Greet for Emotional Based School Avoidance Issues
• Soft Start
• Play Leaders at Lunchtime
• Half Termly Wellbeing Sessions/Days
• Mental Health Assemblies
• Calm boxes in classrooms
• 5 Ways to Wellbeing
• Access to School Nursing Services
• Therapeutic Hooves
• Play Therapy
• Lunchtime Club

Bespoke provision in classrooms- visual time tables, rewards, behaviour support and much more!

Our Curriculum 

Our unique and diverse curriculum supports all children to understand that wellbeing is key to living a happy and successful life. Our aim is to give pupils the information they need to make good decisions about their mental health. Both our whole school offer and more individualised support enables children to recognise what is normal and what is an issue in both themselves and others. In addition, they know how to seek support if and when issues arise.

Our PSHE curriculum focuses specifically on developing children’s social and emotional skills which can prevent poor mental health from developing and help all children cope effectively with setbacks and remain healthy. It is about helping children to understand and manage their thoughts, feelings and behaviour and build skills that help them to thrive, such as working in a team, persistence, and self-awareness. In addition, stigma is reduced through the normalisation of discussions surrounding mental health and an atmosphere of open communication and honesty is fostered through the development of trusting and supportive relationships. This integrated, whole-school approach to the teaching of good mental health also has a positive impact on behaviour and attainment.

Our School Responsibilities

As stated in the DfE guidance on mental health and behaviour in schools, schools have an important role to play in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of their pupils, by developing approaches tailored to the particular needs of their pupils. All schools are under a statutory duty to promote the welfare of their pupils, which includes: preventing impairment of children’s health or development and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Early intervention to identify issues and provide effective support is crucial. The school role in supporting and promoting mental health and wellbeing can be summarised as:

1. Prevention: creating a safe and calm environment where mental health problems are less likely, improving the mental health and well-being of the whole school population, and equipping pupils to be resilient so that they can manage the normal stress of life effectively. This will include teaching pupils about mental well-being through the curriculum and reinforcing this teaching through school activities and ethos.

2. Identification: recognising emerging issues as early and accurately as possible.

3. Individualised support: helping pupils to access evidence based early support and interventions.

4. Access to external services: working effectively with external agencies to provide swift access or referrals to specialist support and treatment.